Innocence
by FlippyIsKing18
Summary: Police are on the lookout for The Demon Child, a nine year old serial killer. He comes across a little girl named Autumn who he calls Flaky. He decides to look after her and protect her while also finding a new home for the both of them. The two come across several other homeless children, and together they form a strong bond. Please review; it'd be very appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**(This story has its own cover art, belonging to the blessed and extraordinary PrincessFlaky on deviantart! Please check out her works if you haven't yet; she's so awesome and an AMAZING artist!)**

"All officers! Be on the lookout for The Demon Child!"

We all have secrets...

"Phillip Masterson, The Demon Child, was last seen running downtown!"

But some… Are worse than others...

Bold men and women, dressed in blue and sporting shiny stars on their chest, were wandering the streets of the lowly city, armed with lit flashlights and loaded handguns.

Officers were eager to find the evil child, wherever he was. They all crowded the streets, all of them given the order to 'shoot on sight' when the come in contact with him. And each one of them carried a rolled wanted poster, with the ugly grin of their target.

PHILLIP MASTERSON

THE DEMON CHILD

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

They are on the lookout for a brown haired boy, who was last seen with yellow eyes and sharp triangular teeth. He has been on the lam for close to three weeks, and every week he added more and more victims to his list.

And every household in the area held terrified citizens, all locking their doors and shutting their blinds. The city had never dealt with the likes of a serial killer before, nor did they expect the killer be a child. And the scared people all turned their attention to their television sets, all focusing on the news report by a shaken female reporter.

"In other news, police are on the lookout for Phillip Masterson, a nine year old boy charged with several counts of second degree murder. He has been codenamed, 'The Demon Child.' Police urge you, do not come in contact with The Demon Child. He is believed to be extremely dangerous."

* * *

Running the streets of the frightened city was a young boy who was accompanied by nobody. He was alone. No family to look after him. No friends to call him own. Nobody to trust.

But above all, no food to fulfill his burning hunger.

His belly rumbled greatly as he stopped to catch his breath from running nearly all day. All he came to the city for was to find a meal. Just something to eat.

The boy looked rather miserable; messy brown locks on his head, grey circles around his eyes to show his lack of sleep, dirt splattered cheeks and tattered clothes of a grey shirt and ripped brown shorts.

And his name was Phillip.

Phillip threw his blue colored knapsack onto the floor, then slowly ran his back down a filthy brick wall belonging to a dark alley, and allowed his bottom to reach the floors. He looked at his bare feet, with no shoes to cover his bruised and skinned toes and ankles. He looked at his hands, crackling and dry much like his feet.

And he felt his tummy rumble with hunger.

He looked around the area, and found a trash can underneath a bright spotlight. Desperate for food, he crawled over and looked in the can, only to find it empty. Just like always. But something caught his eye behind a can near the other side of the alley.

He noticed something peculiar; the sound of high pitched sniffling from behind the can. He crawled over to the can and looked behind it. His eye caught the sight of a little girl, curled into a ball and sucking the thumb of her right hand. Her eyes were shut as they were crying lines of clear tears. Her hair was the color of the red water coursing through her veins.

Phillip, believing her to be in trouble, spoke in his nine year old toned voice.

"Hey. You ok?"

Her eyes opened quickly, revealing them to be a beautiful bright green. She popped her thumb out of her mouth and looked at the boy.

She kept her terrified look as she spoke in her high pitched voice.

"No! Don't hurt me!"

He shook his head.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. Here. Let me help you, ok?"

He got up to his feet and reached his hand down to her. She was shaking in fear from the sight of this boy, but at least he was being nice to her, unlike the other people in her life.

She slowly placed her hand in his and he pulled her up to her feet. He saw she was wearing a red and white t-shirt with a brown bear on the chest, and dark yellow colored shorts. He also noticed her bright red colored shoes on her tiny feet.

But most of all, he noticed the bruises on her face and arms, and the red skin lines on her throat, signifying that she had been choked.

"Wow… How'd you get like this?"

She did not want to tell a complete stranger.

"None of your beeswax! Go away!"

Just as he thought. He could never make acquaintances with anyone, even little children such as him. He picked up his knapsack and began to walk away, and she once again popped her thumb into her mouth. It was an addiction; the only way she could calm herself so far.

But she could not help but feel a little bad. After all, he was nice to her.

She slid her thumb out of her mouth and called out.

"Wait! Come back!"

Luckily, he did not move far. He came running back, and the two were sharing eye contact once again. She slowly tip toed over to him, so they were pretty close, nearly touch. She cupped her hands behind her back and shifted her foot, while bowing her head.

"Autumn is sorry. She's just scared. And really hungry. And she wants a friend. But… Autumn… Really don't like people…"

She raised her head.

"What your name?"

He looked around, hoping nobody would hear.

"Phillip… Phillip Masterson."

She looked back down.

"Autumn last name is Thorne."

He nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Autumn."

He turned on his heel.

"Well, see you later."

"WAIT!"

He turned back around.

"Uh huh?"

She felt a strange feeling in her tummy, like butterflies being born from tiny little cocoons in her stomach. She wanted to know about this boy, since he was the first boy she had ever talked to alone.

"Where… Where are you going?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Back to looking for food and then I'm gonna look for somewhere to sleep. Why?"

She bowed her head for a minute, then released her hands from behind her back, clasped them together and brought them in front of her face.

"Can Autumn go with you?"

He raised his brow in confusion.

"Why do you wanna come with me?"

"Autumn is scared here. It's cold. Please?"

He walked a bit further from her.

"No."

She raised her head.

"Why not?'

"I can't be seen with you."

"Why?"

He did not want to tell her the truth.

"I just can't."

"Why not?"

He was getting a bit angry.

"Look, you can't come with me, alright? I gotta be alone. Where're your parents?"

She shook her head.

"No! Autumn can't go back home! Scared! She scared..."

"Why are you scared to go back home?

She started to cry again.

"Because… Autumn was a bad girl. Autumn don't like to go back home when she bad. She scared to go back home. Daddy will hit her again."

He gave her a sad look, and now understood the marks and the misery this girl was going through. He felt that kind of pain before. And now, he did not want her to suffer anymore.

"Sorry… But I can't be seen around you. And… You don't wanna be with me."

She stomped her feet and shouted.

"AUTUMN WANNA GO WITH PHILLIP! I WANNA, I WANNA, I WANNA!"

Finally, having no choice, he finally nodded.

"Alright... Fine."

She finally smiled and calmed down.

"Really?!"

He nodded.

"Yeah. Come on."

He began walking away, and she quickly caught up to him. She popped her thumb into her mouth and walked beside the boy, who decided to give up looking for food and instead wanted to get this girl to safety, away from her father. Wherever he was.

The two walked side by side for what seemed like an hour, and both of them getting hungrier and hungrier. But Phillip did not care. And now, neither did Autumn.

But after a while, they could not take the pain of their stomachs. They had to eat. So, when nobody was looking, they ran to a closed grocery store. Phillip looked around on the street and finally found a large enough rock, then threw the stone into the glass door. It left a large enough hole to crawl in.

"Stay out here, ok?"

She nodded as she continued to suck her thumb. He crawled through the hole in the glass and came back out shortly with two bright red apples, and nothing more. He may have been a thief, but he at least wanted to be considerate.

He handed one of the apples to Autumn, who instantly grabbed the fruit and sunk her teeth into it, letting the sweet juices stain her teeth and cover her taste buds. The two ran off, out of sight once again.

Soon enough, the sky above them turned grey and the dark clouds began to pour rain on top of their heads. They were both shivering and cold, so Phillip finally had them stop and take shelter inside a turned over empty dumpster. It was not warm, but it was dry.

Phillip looked at her.

"You ok?"

She shivered.

"Autumn… Is… C-c-cold…"

He looked at his knapsack.

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?"

He reached into his bag and brought out a rolled up blanket, small but warm. He handed it to the girl, who smiled and wrapped herself in its comfort. She sighed after being warm.

"Autumn's all warm and cozy now!"

He nodded.

"Good. Anyway, I'm wondering something."

"What?"

"Why are you scared to go back home?"

She dropped her cute smile.

"'Cause Autumn was bad. She made her daddy mad."

He raised a brow.

"Your dad?"

She nodded.

"Autumn's daddy hates her. And she hates her mean daddy too. He sucks stuff out his bottle a lot, and gets angry all the time. Autumn thinks… Everyone hates her, since her daddy hates her. Phillip know how that feels?"

He bowed his head.

"Yup. I know how that feels. At least you got a mom, right?"

She bowed her own head.

"No… Mommy died when Autumn was a little baby…"

He raised his own head. He felt sorry for the little girl, who was so young and must be so miserable. But somehow, he felt a bit relieved that she knew how he felt about family.

"Mine died a few years ago."

Her eyes perked up.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. And… Sorry. Must be hard having no mom, but having a bad dad is even worse. Well, hate to tell you but… I kinda had it worse than you."

"How? My daddy's a monster! What's worse that having a monster as a daddy?"

He felt the shame pent up inside of him as he remembered his past. He remembered the sights, the sounds, the feelings. But most of all, he remembered his family, the people that actually cared for him.

"Try being a monster."

She raised her brows.

"Wha…. What? What you mean?"

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Can't tell you. Personal."

She tilted her head.

"Why?"

"It just is."

"Why?"

He arched his brows.

"IT JUST IS!"

She shook a bit from his outburst, and he exhaled to calm down.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. But... It's just personal. Don't be scared of me, though. Ok?"

She blinked a few times, and then nodded. They stayed silently inside of the metal box until the rain had died down. Then they both crawled out, with Autumn still wrapped in her blanket, and they began to walk again, towards the outskirts of the woods. Their walking feet left tiny visible footprints in the wet, soft mud below them as they were about to enter the dark woods.

While they were walking, she suddenly yawned and rubbed her little eyes.

"Autumn… Sleepy…"

He nodded.

"Well, we can't sleep around here. Come on. We'll set up a camp in there."

He pointed to the woods, where he said they were going.

She stopped in her tracks.

"W-w-wait!"

He stopped and looked at her.

"What's the matter?"

"D-d-do we have t-t-to go i-in there?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. Only place where nobody in the city will go. You don't wanna stay here with your daddy, do you?"

She stood upright and shook.

"N-n-no!"

He started walking.

"Well, let's go then."

He started walking into the dense woods, with her shaking but following. She was indeed scared, but she figured wherever they were going would be better than being with her father. They both disappeared in the woods.

They walked along the dirt and leave covered land, with the only intention being to find somewhere to camp out for the night.

* * *

The two had not emerged after going into the woods. But that did not stop a shadowy figure from wandering the streets, looking for something. He had a messy white wife beater and dirty denim jeans on his body. And his hair was blood red in the style of a pony tail.

He stomped up to a police officer and shouted in a strong southern language, making the officer confused as to what he was saying.

"Sir, I don't know what you're asking."

"Ma daughter! A little red head! You see her?"

"Sir, we have no time to look for your little girl. There's an insane serial killer on the loose. I'm sorry."

The angry man shook his fist.

"Useless like the rest of y'all! Outta my way!"

He continued to stomp through the streets, looking for his little girl. He was determined to bring her back home in order to punish her for being bad. Little girls are not supposed to run away from home.

And if he needed to use it, he had a switchblade in his pocket.

"AUTUMN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YA?!"

Finally, his search had led him to the outskirts of the city. He continued to call out for the scared little girl, until he found two sets of fresh footprints in the mud leading to the woods. They both looked rather small, and he recognized the smaller set.

He stomped off into the woods, with the thought that his daughter will be found. So he could punish her. Again.

* * *

Luckily for the two little children, the rain was gone. But that did not stop the dark of the night to emit freezing wind and cold air.

The young boy and girl found refuge underneath a huge rock that had just enough space for the two to sleep under. They crawled underneath the rock, but Autumn continued to shiver, even with a blanket around her tiny body.

Phillip noticed her shaking.

"You're still cold?"

She nodded.

"And s-s-scared… Woods i-i-is scary…"

He noticed the goosebumps on his skin.

"Oh. Ok. Give me a minute."

He reached into his knapsack once again, and brought out what she saw was a small patch of dried grass, several dry sticks, a bright yellow rock and a clear sparkling rock.

"Ok… Tinder, check… Wood, check … Sulfur and phosphorus, check…"

She watched in amazement as he placed the grass under the wood and then proceeded to quickly and forcefully bang the two rocks together. She saw several sparks fly from the rocks and land on the grass, and soon enough it began to emit smoke. He quickly blew on the grass several times, and soon enough a small fire emerged from the wood, and he felt warm again.

She let her jaw drop in amazement as she crawled over to the fire.

"Wow… You can make fire! How Phillip learn to do that?"

She scooched over to him as he spoke.

"My brother used to be a boy scout. Know what that is?"

She scratched her head.

"A boy… Who's a scout?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. He taught me how to make a fire, and a couple other things. He used to hunt too."

She opened her mouth and smiled.

"Wow… Your bubbie sounds cool! Where is he?"

He nodded.

"Dead too."

She dropped her smile. To think she was mean to him before, when he was never mean to her. She arched her brows in sadness.

"You're bubbie died too? Autumn is sorry for being mean. Phillip must be sad with his mommy and bubbie dead."

He shook his head.

"Had a sister. She's dead too."

"Your sissy, too?! What about your daddy?"

There was silence.

"Phillip?"

He still did not talk. He only stared at the fire.

"Why won't you tell me? Autumn wanna know."

"'Cause you're a little girl. You've already been through a lot. Besides... You're scared and alone out here."

She bowed her head in remembrance of her father. She hated her father, especially since he was the only person she knew. He forebode her to make friends, or even have a toy to call her own.

"Autumn not alone anymore. Now that she knows Phillip. But… Autumn talks to only Phillip. She… Doesn't even have a dolly… Or a teddy…"

He looked at her.

"You want a toy, huh?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh…"

He thought a minute, then stood up and walked over to his knapsack. There was only one thing left inside of it, and he pulled it out. He walked back to her and sat down, then handed her a dirty brown teddy bear, with one eye pulled out and the other in the shape of a nearly full moon.

She looked at the bear, and then slowly took it from his hands.

He nodded.

"There… Better?"

She looked at the bear.

"Where'd… You get a teddy?"

"Was mine since I was about 3. It's okay. You can have it now."

She looked at him.

"But… It's gotta be the only thing Phillip has of his mommy and daddy and siblies."

He raised one brow.

"Si… Siblies?"

"Siblies. Yeah. Your bubbie and sissy."

"Oh… You mean siblings… Well okay, call them that if you want to. Anyway, I don't want it anymore. You keep it, ok?"

She sat in awe. Nobody has ever treated her so kindly before. Especially a boy before. He gave her a blanket. And a teddy. And a friend. All in one day.

She hugged her new teddy bear, not minding the stench or its dirty appearance.

"Thank you, Phillip! Autumn will love her teddy forever!"

She quickly hopped up out of her blanket and began hopping around the fire, swinging her new bear all around and silently singing about her teddy bear. She had never been so happy about something so dirty. She kept it close to her as she jumped and skipped around an observing Phillip and the fire.

She finally stopped and plopped down next to the boy, and she was panting from all the energy she had wasted being happy.

But then, she looked at her shirt and noticed the bane of her existence.

"Phillip, is there a bathy around here?"

"No. I don't think so."

She got angry.

"But Autumn gotta take a bathy every day, or else more flakes will get in her hair!"

He tilted his head.

"Flakes?"

She nodded.

"Autumn got a lotta flakes in her hair. She thinks their ugly. Her daddy thinks their ugly. Everyone thinks-" "It's cute…" "-they're… Cute?"

She looked at his red face.

"You turn red."

He looked up.

"Sorry. I'm a blusher. I said… It's… Cute…"

She got confused.

"My flakes?"

He finally looked away and spoke the truth.

"Well… Actually… You are. You're a cute little redhead with flakes. And pretty green eyes. I know I sound pretty weird, but… You're the cutest little girl I've ever met."

She stopped her rambling and looked at him. She saw that his face was bright red. She had never heard the word 'cute' to describe her before.

She got a happy smile on her face, and she ran over and wrapped her scrawny arms around his neck, then nuzzled the side of her head into his. He looked at her while she hugged him, and he could not help but feel a little fuzzy inside.

She let go of him and sat down next to him.

"Nobody calls Autumn cute. Ever. Phillip, can she tell you something?"

He nodded.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I like you. You're the nicest boy ever!"

He nodded.

"Well… I like you too, Autumn."

She smiled as she leaned up against his arm, and his face turned red once again. She giggled a little bit, and he shuddered a bit in her cuteness.

She sat up straight, and looked at his shoulder. She noticed a new, fresh patch of white flakes on his shoulder.

"Oh… Sorry. Autumn made Phillip shoulder all snowy."

"I don't care, really."

"Oh… Ok. Phillip… Do you really think my flakes are cute?"

He nodded.

"Uh huh. I like how it looks like snow on your hair. And well… Since you leave snowflakes everywhere, can I call you Snowflake?"

She thought a minute.

"Snowflake… No. Something else?" "How about Dander?" "No." "Snowy?" "Uh uh." "Flaky?"

Her eyes perked up and she smiled greatly.

"Flaky! I like that! Autumn's name is Flaky now!"

She bounced up and down, gripping the arm of her teddy in her tiny palm.

"Flaky, Flaky, Flaky!"

She looked at the boy with a huge smile on her face.

"Flaky doesn't like Autumn. It reminds her of her mommy. Thank you for giving Flaky her new name!"

He nodded.

"Sure. Anyway, let's get some sleep now. Ok?"

She rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah. Flaky pretty sleepy."

Philip stood up and took the blanket from off the ground, then proceeded to throw it onto the flame, putting it out and creating a pillar of smoke. Flaky curled up into a ball where she sat, and gripped her teddy bear close to her chest. She closed her eyes as she popped her free thumb into her mouth.

Phillip put his hands behind his head and laid back onto the floor. He heard the tiny girls silent snoring through her nose, and he was about to close his own eyes.

But suddenly, he heard rustling from afar. Sounding like footsteps from a set of boots. He sat up and tried to look for the sound, hearing a silent grumble from what sounded like a man. He crawled up to his feet and walked around.

And then he realized his mistake; he and Flaky had been leaving footprints behind them the whole time, and whoever was coming must have followed them.

Suddenly, he felt himself be grabbed by the same man and pulled close to the mans nose. Phillip stared into the eyes of a red haired man, with the smell of bitter alcohol on his breath and a thick accent.

"Kid, you see a little red haired girl walk through here?"

He thought a minute.

"Little red haired girl… Green eyes?"

The man shook the little boy fiercely.

"SEEN HER OR NOT?!"

He shook his head, not afraid.

"Nope. Haven't see a girl like that."

He threw the boy forward.

"Don't believe ya! Outta my way!"

Phillip put his hands up.

"Please, sir! My little sister is trying to sleep over there."

"SHUT UP AND GET OUTTA MY WAY!"

The man raised his balled fist and threw it into Phillips cheek, launching him to the ground side first. The man stomped away, towards where he sees a pillar of smoke. And he finally found what he was looking for; a sleeping girl with red hair.

He grabbed her by the back of her hair, and she jolted her body awake.

"There ya are, little girl!"

She instantly began to shake.

"D-d-daddy!"

He let go of her hair and grabbed her arm.

"You've been bad, Autumn. You don't run away from home. Now you're getting a whuppin'!"

She closed her eyes as cried.

"No… Flaky don't wanna get a whuppin'..."

And suddenly, she felt him grab her tiny throat with one hand, and she was raised off the ground. She was staring with crying eyes at her father, who was too angry to think. Her tiny legs were thrashing about, and she was grabbing his wrist trying to loosen his grip.

"YOU LIKE BEING STRANGLED, YOU LITTLE WHORE?!"

She choked out silent words.

"N-n-no…"

"THEN GET YOUR ASS HOME, NOW!"

She continued to gag as she felt no air enter her lungs. She felt this kind of pain all the time, but she felt ever worse at this moment, since she saw Phillip on the floor and not moving.

She finally nodded.

"O… kay…"

He let her down.

"Good… Now come on!"

He grabbed her wrist and started to pull her along. She tried all she could to get away, not wanting to go through his daily torture anymore. She hated the man, she hated his hands, she hated everything. Except for Phillip.

She looked back at him, and was shocked to see he was beginning to get up.

"PHILLIP! HELP FLAKY!"

Her father pulled her arm.

"Shut up! Wait a minute…"

He turned around, with his grip still strong on her hand. And he himself watched as the boy was beginning to get up. Having enough of the brat, he reached into his pocket and flipped the blade, shocking Flaky.

"No! Don't do that to Phillip!"

He looked at her.

"Better shut yur mouth!"

Flaky was bawling as he started to walk towards her friend.

"Daddy… Don't…"

Suddenly, she watched her father be tackled to the ground, and he saw the same boy he saw before on top of his chest. But something was different about him; his once bright eyes were now ugly and yellow, and his teeth were like white knives.

And his voice was different as he got up.

"Surprise, you bastard!"

The man was suddenly terrified as he actually tried to crawl away, and Phillip looked down and noticed he dropped his knife. He picked it up and walked after the man, with Flaky watching the whole thing.

Her innocent eyes watched as Phillip kicked the man over onto his back, and he climbed onto her fathers chest, very snake-like. And suddenly, she watched as he plunged the blade into her fathers chest, over and over again.

Her eyes filled with tears, and her mouth remained agape. He thrust the knife into the man again. And again. And once again. She heard her fathers blood curdling screaming, and the splatter of his flesh be penetrated by the sharp blade. And the whole time, the boy doing the stabbing kept his sharp toothed smile.

He finally stood up, with the bloody knife in his hand and red splatters all over his arm and clothes. He put his free hands fingers to his mouth and licked the sweet essence. He chuckled a bit as he turned his attention to the little girl.

"You're turn…"

She jumped up in fright and ran away, heading deeper into the woods. The boy smiled greater and walked slowly after her.

"Wanna play rough, huh? Fine. Let's play."


	2. Chapter 2

(This chapter seemed a bit too long, so I decided to split it. I'm sorry if you've already read it and I threw you off...)

The poor little redhead had no choice but to run, for what reason she did not even know. Other than there was a murderer on her trail, in the form of her only friend. But somehow, it was not seeing her father get killed that made her scared of the boy; just his appearance and his voice. His deep and distorted voice.

Phillip was walking menacingly behind her, playing with his newly acquired switchblade he had just used to kill the very same girls abusive father. And he loved every thrust of the blade he performed. He smiled with his freshly bloodstained sharp teeth as he walked faster and faster, looking for the girl.

She ran behind a tree and sat on her tiny bottom, then looked at the sky, which had a clearly visible white moon above the trees. She cried more and more as she pleaded in her head for what was near to her to leave her alone.

"Phillip… Why am I scared of you… When you saved me?"

He chuckled more and more as he felt her presence getting closer and closer. She cupped her hands over her eyes and cried more, just wanting her friend back. Not this new boy. Not this monster.

Phillip sniffed the air, and called out in his terrifying voice.

"Oh Flaky! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Finally, after searching for a matter of minutes, he found the scared little girl sitting against the tree, still with her eyes covered and bawling. He smiled and slowly walked in front of her, then used his index finger to poke her on the top of her head.

"Found you!"

She jolted her eyes open and began shaking as she looked up and saw the new boy, staring at her with those horrifying yellow eyes.

"Get up."

He grabbed her wrist and forcefully pulled her up to her feet, her still shaking and crying.

"Hey, enough crying."

He flipped his blade.

"It'll be fast."

She stared at the knife, how professional he was holding its handle. She kept noticing so many changes this boy has to the boy she grew fond of; this was not the boy that helped her, that gave her a new teddy bear, and that gave her a new name.

She spoke through her tears.

"Phillip… I thought we were friends…"

He chuckled a bit.

"Friends with you? Ha! Don't make me laugh, freaky girl! I only stayed in the wusses head 'cause he wanted you safe until he leaves town. But now that I'm out, I can do…"

He slowly walked closer to her.

"Whatever… I… Want…"

He grabbed the back of her head and she cried out louder.

"Phillip! Please… Don't kill me!"

"Fine. He won't. I ain't Phillip. I ain't got a name."

She closed her eyes.

"Please… Flip back to Phillip… You're scaring me!"

He knelt down to her. He felt so proud to be in the presence of such a scared and miserable looking little girl, who would probably be happier if he just killed her anyway.

"Relax and it'll be easy. Come on. Don't you wanna see your mommy?"

She opened her eyes.

"M-m-my m-m-mommy?"

He smiled.

"Yeah… I bet she misses you… You know, her not getting to watch you grow up… And be killed by me."

He chuckled again, but suddenly he felt his body go limp, and a different voice shot out of his mouth. And for a split second, his eyes changed back to emerald and his teeth became dull and square again.

"FLAKY! HELP ME!"

She raised her brows.

"Phillip?"

His image changed once again, and she was looking at the monster again.

"Sorry… That one slipped out."

She kept her mouth open.

"That… That was Phillip… He's ok…"

She swallowed hard and spoke clearly.

"Um… M-mister um… Who are you?"

He gritted his teeth.

"Quit acting like an idiot! I don't got a name! But… Ah, what the hell? Since you're about to die, I'll let you name me. And you better make it a good name."

She thought of the boy she watched come back to the outside world. She was so confused about this boy all of a sudden; now there were two Phillips, one good and one bad. How, she did not know. But what she did know is that she cared about the good Phillip.

She thought a minute.

"M-Mr… N-no name… C-can I have my Phillipy back?"

He arched his brows.

"What the… Phillipy? What's a Phillipy?"

She shook a bit less.

"I put 'ee's' on the end of words I like. Phillip is my friend."

He got angrier.

"Phillipy. Dumbest name I've ever heard."

Then he got a sinister idea.

"Phillipy… Phil… Ip… Ee… Ful-ippy… Flippy…. Yeah! A dumbass name for a dumbass! Well… What about me? Maybe… One p switched around… Fliqpy… Yeah…"

He smiled.

"Fliqpy… The name of the baddest boy on the planet! Aw yeah! I'm gonna be famous, baby!"

He looked at the girl.

"Thanks for the name… Now then…"

He pulled her close.

"Got any last words?"

She started to shake once again, feeling immense fear, but immense safety from this boy. Even though he was scary, she was already in a nightmare before she met him. He saved her from that nightmare; the real monster in her eyes. The man that hit her, called her names, and did so many things to her tiny little body. She kept a few secrets from everyone she knew, and she did not want Phillip to know either. At least, not yet.

She got on her knees.

"Please… Mr. Fliqpy… Don't kill me… I don't wanna be killed by my hero…"

He got confused.

"What do you mean 'hero'? I ain't a hero. I'm a monster."

She started to cry again.

"Not to Flaky. Phillip is her friend. He do so much for Flaky. He make Flaky so happy. And Fliqpy got rid of Flaky's mean daddy! You're my hero, Fliqpy! Thank you, Fliqpy!"

And almost instantly, she crawled over and wrapped her tiny arms around his waist, while still on her knees. He was so confused on the intention of this girl. She was acting like he did not scare her anymore, when she was terrified of him just a second ago.

"Please don't hurt me! Flaky won't tell anyone! She promise! Just please turn back to Phillip! Flaky like his new name! Flippy! Listen to Flaky!"

And little did she know, her pleading worked; Flippy felt himself emerge and found himself standing with a knife in his hand and a crying girl down on her knees and hugging him.

She did not notice as she kept rambling.

"Flaky… Still wanna be Flippy's friend. She… really, really does. Please, Flippy. Come back! Flaky still wanna be with you. Flaky wanna go with you still. Flippy is Flaky's hero. And…"

He finally used his finger to raise her head.

"Flaky?"

She instantly smiled at the sight of his green eyes and normal looking teeth.

"Phillip! You're back!"

She got up to her feet and proceeded to hug him.

"Flaky so glad you're back! Mr. Fliqpy scares her."

He looked down to her.

"You ok? He hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"Nope. Just scare me. But Flaky ok."

He heaved a sigh.

"Good. Anyway, we gotta keep moving."

She groaned.

"But Flaky sleepy. She wanna go back to bed."

He shook his own head.

"We can't be here anymore. Let's just get outta these woods and then we'll sleep, ok?"

She groaned a bit and held her tired head. She wanted so bad to sleep, just rest her eyes for a bit before she keeled over. But if they could not be here anymore, they had to leave before they were spotted. Besides, she hated to sleep on the ground. It was full of insects, which she was afraid of.

"Alright…"

He helped her up and the two walked back to where the rock they were trying to sleep under, where they left their supplies. Flippy picked up his knapsack and proceeded to stuff his blanket and Flakys teddy bear inside it, as well as his two fire making rocks.

She blinked slowly, feeling sleepier and sleepier as every minute passed.

"Flippy… Flaky… Wanna… Sleep…"

He looked over to her.

"Flippy?"

She nodded.

"That's what Mr. Fliqpy called you."

He shook his head.

"So that's his name now… Fliqpy… Well, alright. Call me that if you want to. I like it."

The two continued walking through the night, with Flaky trying so hard to keep her eyes open. Flippy, however, was wide awake. He was just relieved that even though he revealed his dark secret to her, she was still at his side. She was the first to do such a nice thing for him.

She yawned over and over again, holding her head. Finally, she could not hold it anymore. She felt her eyes close while the two were walking, and Flippy looked over to see her fall over onto her belly.

He knelt down to her.

"Flaky? You ok?"

She made no response, and all he heard were her silent snoring.

"Flaky?"

Still no response. Finally, having no choice since they had to keep moving, he carefully rolled her over onto her back. He ran his arms under the back of her head and under her legs, then proceeded to lift her up carefully. She made no movements while she was in deep slumber, and he noticed just how adorable she was while she slept.

He slowly continued to walk through the forest, carrying the little girl with no problem at all. She barely weighed anything to him, and he did not mind carrying her at all.

He continued to walk until he himself began to feel drowsy. Finally, deciding to let both of them sleep, he stopped and carefully placed her back on the ground. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out the blanket, then placed it flat on the ground.

He picked her up slowly and placed her on the blanket. She instantly turned over on her stomach and began to suck her thumb once again. He nodded at the sight of her being calm, and he slowly fell back and let himself rest.

Still inside the woods, they slept calmly on the blanket, with the cool breeze blowing on their tiny bodies.

* * *

The sun shone brightly as the twisted young boy and the adorable little girl were walking once again. They have been walking for close to an entire day now, both enjoying each others company. She liked having a friend close to her, and he just enjoyed seeing her.

The woods was getting darker and scarier for the little girl, as she began to shake from the fear of the animals around her. Sure, there were cute little bunny rabbits and beautiful sounding birds, but she also heard the sound of wolves howling and owls hooting.

She sucked her thumb more and more as she walked, trying to calm herself from the fear of being eaten alive out there. Little did she know that the boy next to her had every intention to protect her and keep her happy, so he could see her adorable smile.

But the more she shook, the more she just wanted to feel safe. So, when she noticed Flippys dangling hand that was closest to her, she instantly used her own free hand to clasp it. He jolted a bit and looked at his hand, which had another hand connected to the little redhead, who was sucking her thumb and keeping her eyebrows in a sad shape.

His cheeks turned a bit red from her sudden urge to hold his hand, and seeing his bright face cheered her up just a tiny bit. She still kept her sad look though, feeling just a bit scared still from the scary woods. He decided to have them stop, both of them a bit tired from their day of travelling.

He laid his blanket on the ground once again, and the two sat down on the white, fluffy square. She looked at the boy and smiled.

"Flippy?"

He looked at her.

"Yeah?"

She scooched a bit closer.

"Can Flaky still hold your hand?"

He rubbed her hand with his thumb.

"Sure. You still a bit scared?"

She nodded.

"Woods is still scary…"

He nodded.

"I know… We should be getting close to another city soon. Who knows? Maybe someone will be nice enough to give us some food."

She nodded, then remembered the night before.

"You think Flippy and Flaky will meet another man like Flaky's daddy?"

He arched his brows.

"Don't think that. We won't."

She bowed her head.

"We might…"

She was so afraid for her life, even with her friend close to her. And he could tell that she was worried for their safety, as it showed in her expression and the tight clutch he felt on his hand.

He thought of a way to cheer her up.

He took his free hand and clasped it on the crown of her skull. She looked up, with his hand still on her head. He then ran his hand through her blood red locks, picking out a few white flakes with every brush. He was petting her, like a little red haired kitten.

And somehow, it worked. Feeling him brush her hair with his fingers made her feel safe around him. She smiled and crawled over to him, then rested her head on his lap while he continued to pet her head. She let go of his hand and continued to suck her thumb.

And he felt warm around this girl, this seemingly normal young child. He had not cracked a smile ever since that fateful day he became The Demon Child, but he felt like smiling now; he had never been so happy before, except around the people he used to know.

After a day of walking, they decided to nap there, snuggling and feeling happy.

* * *

Continuing their walking, Flippy and Flaky were continuing to hold hands as they walked. She kept her teddy bear clutched to her side as well. As the night grew near, she felt her hunger get stronger and more unbearable. But somehow, she did not care about her empty stomach anymore, as she felt just as satisfied holding the hand of the boy next to her.

And after a day of doing nothing but walking and napping, she needed stimulation.

"Flippy? Can we play a game?"

He looked down to her.

"A game? Like what?"

She smiled and let go of his hand, then used her pointer finger to poke his chest.

"Tag! You're it!"

She started running away.

"You can't catch Flaky!"

He decided to play along, and the two ran through the thick woods, occasionally poking each other and running away from each other. She was having the time of her life playing with her new friend and giggling softly. Usually he was pretty fast, but her being small probably helped her speed.

She stopped and crawled under his legs, much to his surprise. She laughed more as she ran further from him, and he was actually happy playing with her.

Finally, she stopped and tried to catch her breath from running so much, and he was panting heavily as well as he approached her.

He spoke through his breaths.

"You… Done… Playing?"

She smiled as she panted.

"We… Keep… Playing!"

She began to run again, again away from him. He ran after her, feeling a cramp build up in his side. But he noticed she was running towards an opening out of the woods. Finally they have made it to the other side of the woods.

Flaky stopped in her tracks as she exited the woods, and Flippy caught up to her. He noticed her amazed look and stared forward as well. And his eye caught the amazing sight.

They both saw a huge red barn in the middle of the large green-land area, surrounded by trees and empty crop fields.

They were both ecstatic; they've finally found a place to stay. Hopefully abandoned.

He looked over to her.

"Wanna stay there?"

He noticed her drooling mouth, yet he heard no response.

"Flaky?"

She pointed to one of the trees.

"Apples… Yummy…"

He looked over to the tree, and sure enough, it was blooming with bright red apples, all looking ripe and ready to eat. They were both starving, so they did not think twice to run over to the tree. Flippy let his knapsack fall off of his shoulder so he can stuff it with the fruit.

Only problem; the apples were up there, and they were down on the ground.

Flaky dropped her teddy and reached up, trying to grab them from her height. She started to jump up and down, just trying to grab one of them. But alas, she was too little.

She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

"Flaky can't reach 'em!"

She looked around, and noticed she was alone.

"Flippy?"

She looked all around her, and began spinning around trying to find her friend. Suddenly, she stopped and held her dizzy head. But then, her ears heard the sound of an apple drop to the ground. She quickly scrambled over and picked the apple up, then looked up.

Flippy was up in the tree, balanced on a branch and kicking the apples down.

She smiled and waved at Flippy.

"HI FLIPPY!"

He called down.

"Hi! Can you help me gather the apples together?"

She nodded.

"Okay, Flippy!"

They spent several minutes knocking down apples and piling them all together, nearly picking the tree completely clean. When they had enough, Flippy carefully climbed down from the branches. Flaky picked up her bear and then took an apple from the pile. Flippy did the same and popped an apple into his mouth.

The two sat together, eating a few apples and filling their stomachs for the first time in a day.

Finally, after their feast of several apples, they were satisfied. Flippy laid back and rested under the shade of the tree, while Flaky grabbed her bear and sucked her thumb, smiling greatly after eating the most she had in a long time.

And watching them from afar was someone they did not notice before. It was a young, freckled boy with long, messed up blonde hair. He was wearing a dirty plaid shirt and torn denim jeans, looking like an average ranch hand. He peered at them from behind the barn, while he was digging in the dirt.

His hunger burned greatly, and he had no choice. He silently creeped over to the two children, a bit shy but eager to make new friends.


	3. Chapter 2 (P2)

Flippy and Flaky both looked like they were asleep, since their eyes were closed and they were breathing a bit heavily.

But they both opened their eyes at the sound of rustling close to them. They both saw the blonde haired boy trying to grab an apple out of their bag, and Flaky got scared and crawled over to Flippy.

Flippy called out to him.

"Hey! You aren't trying to steal some of our food, are you?"

The boy jolted up and gave a guilty look.

"I'm sorry! I'm just really hungry! I haven't eaten in days… Really, I'm sorry."

She stopped shaking and he dropped his hostile look.

"I'm Noah. Who are you two?"

"Flippy." "Flaky. And this is Teddy."

He scratched the back of his neck.

"Those are your real names?"

Flaky nodded.

"Yeah. That's right."

Flippy reached into the knapsack and pulled out an apple, then tossed it to the boy. He instantly caught it and the boy sat down.

Noah sat down and bit into the apple.

"Thanks. So what are you guys doing out here?"

Flaky spoke.

"We're lost out here. Flippy and Flaky try to find a place to sleep."

Flippy looked at the barn.

"That looks like a pretty nice place. You live there, Noah?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I've been sleeping there awhile. I just don't eat much. Why? You wanna stay there too?"

They both nodded, and Flippy spoke out.

"Why haven't you been eating? Can't you pick apples yourself?"

Noah shook his head, then proceeded to roll up his pant leg. They were both shocked to see an incision line on his knee, running down its length.

"Busted the cap when I was little. Can't climb at all."

Flaky spoke.

"Flaky sorry Noah."

Flippy spoke.

"I can probably help you pick some fruit, and I know a thing or two about farming. I bet I could grow some food in those fields over there."

Noah smiled.

"You would? Gee, that's nice of you. Sure. You guys can sleep there too. It's better than sleeping out here with the bugs."

Flaky instantly began to freak out. She popped up and started flailing her arms around.

"BUGS! CREEPY CRAWLIES! AH! FLIPPY!"

Flippy grabbed her wrist.

"Calm down. Come on, sit down."

She sat down and he brought her head over to rest on his shoulder.

"Shh… Calm down…"

She started to feel better as she felt his hand petting her head once again. She wrapped her arm over to his other shoulder.

"Thank… You… Flippy…"

Noah noticed her happy smile and he got confused all of a sudden. He had never seen a little girl look so happy when she was held by a boy. He had always believed girls thought boys were gross and needed to be left alone. But this girl, something seemed off about her.

But then again, he did not exactly know about the two.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Man… You sure know how to take care of your little sister, don't you?"

"You mean, Flaky? She ain't my sister. She's my friend."

He shook his head.

"Well… She sure seems comfy around you."

He nodded and looked down at her. She smiled.

"Flaky all comfy cozy around Flippy."

Noah spoke.

"Well, I'm wondering somethin'. Where'd you guys get your names?"

Flaky spoke.

"Flaky got a lotta flakes in her hair."

Noah nodded.

"Huh. How about you?"

Flippy bowed his head.

"Not telling you. It's a secret."

Noah shrugged as he took another bite from his apple.

"Well, they're cool names. Much better… Than my nickname…"

They both gave him a strange look.

"What is it?"

He hated his nickname; the name a very special friend used to call him when he was younger. He never told the reason why he was called that, but he was made fun of by everyone who knew his secret. But, this kids seemed nice enough not to laugh.

He exhaled.

"People call me… Cuddle Bunny."

They both sat with their mouth agape for a minute, and he looked at them with a bit of relief that they were not making fun of him. But suddenly, the two looked at each other and began to snicker. Cuddle Bunny arched his brow as he watched the two begin to roll around and laugh loudly.

"HEY! Don't laugh! I think it's stupid too..."

They sat up and Flippy spoke.

"Then why do you have that name?"

He bowed his head.

"Let's just say… I got a friend that loves bunnies…"

But suddenly, they heard a different voice coming from the barn. It sounded like another boy, but it could have been a girl as well.

"CUDDLE BUNNY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He looked at the barn and then at the two.

"Oh boy… Come on inside. You gotta meet Jack."

The blonde haired boy led the two kids into the large barn. They walked through the red wooden doors, and looked around. There were piles of hay all over the place, and there were empty barrels and dirty shoes on the ground. And a metal ladder in the back was leading to an upper area.

Noah shouted.

"Jack! Hey! Come on, man, I know I heard your voice somewhere."

Suddenly, another boy popped out of one of the hay piles.

"There you are, Cuddle Bunny."

He climbed out of the hay, and Flippy and Flaky saw he had bright orange hair, very pale skin and dark dots all over his cheeks. He had on a bright yellow hat that was facing backwards, and on his body were dirty indigo colored overalls.

And his most notable feature; his left hand was cut off and bandaged, while his right was free.

Noah jumped up and shook for a brief second, then got angry.

"Do you have to hide from me?! You know I'm kinda high strung!"

Jack smiled.

"Quit being a wimp, Cuddle Bunny."

He then noticed the two new kids.

"Hey! You two boys aren't supposed to be here."

Noah presented his new friends.

"This is Flippy and Flaky. They're lost and they need a place to stay."

Flaky spoke.

"And Flaky a girl. Not a boy."

Jack crossed his arms.

"Could've fooled me. Anyway, not a chance. We don't got room for two dirty street rats, anyway."

Noah spoke out.

"We sleep downstairs. They can sleep up there. Problem solved. And besides, Flippy can get us some food. He can grow crops and I saw him climb a tree. You know I can't climb 'cause of my bad knee, and you only got one hand. Besides, you're too scared to climb 'em."

Jack arched his brows.

"I ain't scared to climb those stupid trees! Besides, we can always pick food out of the garbage, or just take some from the city. We don't need him. They ain't staying here."

Flaky spoke.

"Why not? Flippy a nice boy, and Flaky will be quiet around Flippy."

Jack suddenly stomped his feet and pointed out with his left nub of a hand.

"It ain't happenin'! You guys find some other hole to crawl in!"

Flaky got scared as she held her bear close. Flippy had yet to make a sound. She spoke out.

"You… You're a meany! Why can't we stay here?"

Jack walked over to her and used his free hand to point at her. He was acting like a downright bully to these two innocent children. Why, even Noah did not know. Maybe Jack knows something neither of them knew? Or maybe he was just mean at heart.

"'Cause I don't like you, and I don't like your ugly looking face! You know, you're a real freak! You're hair's a stupid color."

She was starting to tear up from the mean words. Noah spoke.

"Hey, lay off her, man! She's just a little girl."

He spoke.

"I don't like girls. They're annoying."

He then noticed the bear in her hand.

"Hey… What's this crappy looking bear? Gimme it!"

He grabbed the bear and raised it high. Since she was too short, she could not reach it no matter how hard she tried or how high she jumped. She was now beginning to cry, and Flippy was starting to get angry.

"Give Teddy back!"

He looked at the bear.

"Look at it. It's a dirty and gross. Here, let me give it a makeover."

And in the blink of an eye, he threw the bear to the ground. He forcefully stomped on the bear, bent down and grabbed its head. And they all watched as he was strong enough with one hand to rip the bear head right off its shoulders.

Noah watched how mean he was being. Flaky cried at the sight of her bear being ripped. And Flippy saw the only remembrance of his family be broken.

Jack handed the head of her bear back to her, then bent down and grabbed the body and handed it to her as well.

"Here. He's all better now. Take him."

She was bawling now, loud and sadly. And he pointed out the door.

"OUT!"

It was such a horrible moment for them all, except for Jack, who kept his evil and proud smile. But suddenly, he felt himself be tackled to the ground. Flippy was on top of him, beating his face with balled fists and letting out his anger. And it was not his evil side; his eyes were still green.

Noah picked Flippy off of the orange haired boy.

"Hey! No fighting! Off of him!"

He tried all he could to hold back the angry boy.

"Let me go! Let me at 'em! You little jackass!"

And they all watched as the once big mean bully was now on the floor, with several tears flowing out his eyes and holding his hurt face with his only hand.

Flippy broke free and pointed at the blubbering boy.

"It's bad enough you ripped Flaky's bear, but you made fun of her and made her cry! And now look at you, down there crying like a baby. You're a coward!"

Jack looked up and wiped his tears as Flippy continued to ramble.

"If you want us to leave, then fine. Who needs you guys anyway? You stay away from Flaky and never make her cry again, or I'll tear you apart! That's a promise!"

He started walking towards the barn door.

"Come on, Flaky. We're leaving. We'll find a place to fix your teddy."

But suddenly, Jack stood up and called out to them.

"Wait! Wait a minute! I'm sorry! Really! You're right, I am a coward. I'm too scared to do anything around here.. I'm lucky enough to have Noah though…"

He looked at the sniffling little girl.

"Flaky… I'm sorry… I really am… I'm sorry for ripping your bear… And for calling you a freak. Truth is… I'm the freak... People used to call me mean names... Cripple... Ginger... Crap like that..."

She could tell just from his eyes and ashamed expression that he was truly sorry for what he had done. And Flippy understood why he acted that way; he was bullied in the past for having only one hand, and for having such bright hair and pale skin. That just had to be the reason.

But nevertheless, she spoke out.

"Jack was mean to Flaky. Flaky don't forgive you for hurting teddy, but… She don't wanna make Jack feel bad… Jack not a freak either… Flaky forgive you for making fun of her."

She looked at Flippy.

"Say you're sorry…"

The brown haired boy looked at the one handed bully, and he could just feel his temper beginning to flare again for what he has done to his dear friend. But, it is his dear friend who wants him to forgive the same bully, so he had no choice.

He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I'm sorry…"

Jack nodded.

"I'm sorry too…"

Noah smiled and spoke out.

"Well, Jack? Can they stay here?"

He nodded.

"Sure. Yeah… I mean… If you guys want to…"

Flaky looked at the tallest boy and smiled.

"Flaky wanna stay here. Please, Flippy?"

He looked at the two boys, one who was nice and one who was not. But he figured since they had a place to stay, the only place they have found for miles, it was really a pretty easy answer.

"Sure… I guess so."

They all smiled. Noah spoke out.

"Well, what now?"

Flippy spoke.

"We'll need a few things to start farming. We'll need a watering can, a few packets of seeds, a trowel… And some food, eh? An icebox, and some eggs maybe for breakfast."

Flaky hopped up and down.

"Flaky love scrambled eggs!"

Flippy finally ended with one last item.

"And... a thing of hair dye."

Jack raised his brow.

"Hair dye? Why?"

Flippy bowed his head.

"'Cause…"

Noah shook his head.

"Well, how do you think we're gonna get that stuff? We don't have any money…"

But suddenly, Flaky reached into her pocket and pulled out several green papers, money she had been saving. Flippy had no idea she had money on her, but he was glad now.

"Flaky took all money from her daddy's wallet!"

Noah walked over to her and grabbed the money.

"Great! Alright, I'll go to the city over there and get the stuff."

Jack spoke out.

"I'll come with you. You show them around, Cuddle Bunny, then follow me."

He grabbed the bills and walked out of the barn, leaving Flippy and Flaky alone with Noah. He smiled and made a gesture to head up the ladder. Flippy looked at the smiling little girl, who was happy just to find a new place to sleep that was not filled with bugs.

Flaky placed the two pieces of her teddy bear on the floor.

"Let's let Teddy sleep. He's got a big boo-boo."

She walked to the ladder.

"Come on! Let's go see our new room!"

Flippy walked after her and climbed the ladder. Noah showed them around their new room; empty, but large enough to sleep in, play in, even eat in if they could. And there was a small opening so they can look outside.

Noah climbed back down the ladder and the two watched as he and Jack walked into the woods. They obviously knew where they were going, somehow. And since they had a shopping list, they were going to take a while to get back.

* * *

Sure enough, it was night time before they returned. They had their arms loaded with grocery bags, all filled with their supplies they were told to get. They made sure to get seed packets and a carton of eggs.

Noah was exhausted, but Jack had another plan then just to go to bed for the night. He found Flakys teddy bear and its head, and he reached into one of the bags and brought out a sewing kit. He had no idea how to sew, and it was sure to be tough with his disability, but he could surely get the hang of it after a while. Besides, he felt so bad for what he did to the little red head before.

Later that night, when Flippy and Flaky were fast asleep in their new room, Noah came up the ladder and walked over to the little girl.

"Flaky? You awake?"

She opened her eyes.

"Cuddle Bunny… You're back."

He looked away.

"Look… Jack wanted to do this… I held it down, but he did the sewing... Didn't even ask for help... So... Here."

And he pulled from behind his back a newly repaired teddy bear, with tight stitches around its neck. Her face instantly beamed and she grabbed the bear and hugged it close to her face.

"Teddy! You're ok! You're all better now!"

Noah put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. You forgive Jack now?"

She smiled instantly, as she felt so touched that he would do such a thing for her. But then again, he caused her teddy to get ripped in the first place. But he felt so guilty for doing it that he wanted to show just how sorry he was.

Without saying another word, she quickly ran past the blonde haired boy and climbed down the ladder. She found the one handed boy sitting on a pile of hay, and she ran up to him, still smiling greatly.

She closed her eyes and gently hugged the little boy, making him turn a bit red in embarrassment.

"Flaky forgive you. Thank you, Jack. You're real handy, even if you got just one. Can Flaky call you Handy?"

He looked around.

"I… I guess so. If that makes you happy."

She nodded and let go of him.

"Yup. Handy a cute name for Jack!"

He nodded and felt a bit queasy.

"Uh… Yeah… Well uh… Goodnight."

She quickly went to the ladder, still smiling and carrying her dear toy on her head. She did a childish wave of bending her aligned fingers.

"Night night!"

They both watched as she quickly made her way up the ladder. Cuddle Bunny gave him a smile as he came back down. Jack kept his frown.

"What?"

"That was a nice thing you did for her, man. See? You do care."

Handy crossed his nub over his other arm as he fell back on the hay.

"Shut up..."

Flaky hugged her teddy bear and smiled more as she walked back over to Flippy. She felt so happy to be here, with her nice new friends and her new best friend close to her. She saw he was laying on his side, so he crawled close to him and gently raised his arm, then she slid under it. She was lying on her side as well as she hugged her teddy close with one arm and sucked the thumb of her other hand, while feeling the warmth of Flippy all around her body.

He instantly woke up after feeling her cuddling up to her. He felt warm and happy on the inside, yet he still did not smile. He simply pulled her a little closer, and the sound of her gentle snoring and the cool wind blowing outside lulled him back to sleep.

A new home, new friends, and a new start of his life. Things started looking up up for The Demon Child.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Two weeks later…**_

Living off of the only money they could, the children were actually happy with each other. Crops were beginning to grow in the back from the freshly plowed and weeded fields, and in several of the empty barrels were different fruits and food.

Flaky was outside, playing with her teddy bear and smiling greatly. The little red haired girl could not remember being so happy before, nor could she remember the last time she cried in fear. She felt care for the three boys; the one handed strong boy, the adventurous quick boy, and the smart and agile tough boy.

She hugged her teddy bear tightly, letting the affection she had in her tiny heart for all three of the boys fill the stuffed toy.

Meanwhile, inside of the barn, Cuddle Bunny and Handy were sitting lazily on the floor of the barn. Flippy was upstairs, using a newly bought bottle of hair dye and a little bit of their drinking water to dye his hair a different color.

Cuddle Bunny broke the silence.

"Say, Jack…"

Handy looked over.

"What?"

They heard Flakys humming outside.

"I've been thinking lately… You notice Flaky's been acting kinda weird lately?"

Handy raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… She's been kinda acting like she likes one of us… I mean…"

He made air quotes.

"'Like' like us…"

Handy looked around and thought a minute.

"Heh… Good thing she thinks the same as me."

He smiled and stood up.

"I knew ever since I fixed her bear that she liked me."

Noah arched his brows.

"I wouldn't waste your breath. I like her too. And she likes me. She told me herself."

Noah thought about a little moment he had with the little redhaired girl. It was on a weekend day, when the other two boys were busy.

Flippy was using a newly bought watering can to water the sprouting crops. Handy was using a new hammer to pound down on nails in the floorboards. And Cuddle Bunny and Flaky were at a nearby lake that was too dirty to drink and too gross to bathe in. She watched him tie a long piece of twine on one end of a long stick, and on the other end of the line was a new fish hook.

Noah dug through the wet mud around the water, while Flaky watched him while hugging her teddy bear.

"What Cuddle Bunny doing?"

Noah finally pulled up his dirty fingers, and she saw he was holding a wriggling worm.

"Found one!"

Her face drooped as she hugged her bear close.

"A-a-a wiggly!"

He brought it over to the line and looked at her.

"Don't worry. It's going in there."

She watched as he carefully wrapped the worm around the hook, then he quickly brought his pole back behind him, the forcefully threw the line into the lake, with the hook going under the surface. He smiled as he carefully sat down as he held the stick and waited.

Flaky sat down next to him.

"Where the fishys?"

He looked at her.

"Gotta wait for them to nab the worm."

They both watched the lake, waiting for the unlucky fish to give them their dinner. They saw birds flying above their heads, and they heard the sounds of nature knock against their ears. Flaky popped her thumb into her mouth as she stared at the lake.

She was beginning to grow fond of the blonde haired boy. To her, he was like a brother to her; he always played with her, kept her happy and showed her how to do many things, like digging for treasure and now fishing.

But there was something she wanted to know about the boy.

She took her thumb out of her mouth and spoke to the boy.

"Noah?"

He looked over and smiled.

"Yeah?"

She tilted her head.

"Why does Jack call you Cuddle Bunny? Flaky don't think Jack likes bunnies like Noah said."

He dropped his smile as he tightened his grip on his pole.

"He didn't come up with the name… My sister did."

Her eyes perked up.

"You have a sissy?"

His memories began to cloud his mind. He barely remembered his parents, wherever they were, but he definitely remembered his little sister, the best woman in the world to him. She was born two years before he was, and he loved playing with her and being next to her.

"I… Had a sissy."

She scooched closer to him.

"Had?"

He bowed his head.

"She… She drowned in a pool a few years ago…"

She gasped a bit, then arched her brows into a sad look.

"R-R-Really?"

He nodded.

"Yeah… She couldn't swim and… Well…"

She felt so sorry for the boy.

"Flaky don't like hearing about siblies dying… It makes her feel bad that she don't have any…"

He looked at her a bit confused.

"Siblies?"

She nodded.

"Bubbies and sissies… Flaky want a sissy…"

And he watched as she gave a small smile and he gently placed her arm on his shoulder, and pulled his side to herself. He looked around strangely as she hugged him, and he saw that she looked rather happy.

"But Flaky happy that she has friends… Noah is Flaky's friend… Flaky like you, Cuddle Bunny…"

And he felt warm and happy around the adorable little girl. He saw his dear little sister in her face, and he heard her voice in the redheads. He wanted to make sure he had the chance to be a good friend to Flaky, like he tried with his sister.

And that was why he liked Flaky.

His memory faded as he was back in the barn, looking at the one handed little orange haired boy.

"I… I like her… And she likes me too…"

Handy stomped his foot.

"Well, I like her too. And she hugged me. She ever hug you?"

Noah nodded.

"Yeah. And I liked it."

Jack grunted.

"I bet she liked hugging me better. Besides, I'm more of a man than you…"

He smiled.

"Cuddle Bunny…"

Noah made an angry face.

"Quit calling me that!"

Handy chuckled a bit and repeated his words over and over again.

"Cuddle Bunny, Cuddle Bunny, Cuddle Bunny!"

Noah hated to be called that name by a boy, as it did make him out to be kind of soft. It was not a good attribute for a little boy. His face was beginning to turn red from anger, but he had no intention to act on it;violence would only lead to more violence, and he could scare Flaky.

To change the subject, he called up to the other boy who had yet to be seen.

"COME ON, FLIPPY! COME DOWN FROM THERE!"

Handy shook his head and called up as well.

"Yeah. Come on. I'm sure the dye's about dry now."

Hearing their call, almost right on cue when he was about to come down anyway, Flippy came slowly down the ladder. The shadows of the upstairs blocked the new color of his hair, so the two boys could not make out what it was. Cuddle Bunny chose the color, the only bottle that was left on the shelf at the store.

But when he reached the floor, the boys both gave a confused look. Flippy now sported dark green locks on his head, replacing the shine of his brown hair he arrived in. He looked a bit different now.

Handy spoke first.

"Uhh… You're hair's green now, man…"

Flippy shrugged.

"Cuddle Bunny chose this color. I don't care, really."

Handy nudged Noah with his nub of a left hand.

"Did you have to pick green, Cuddle Bunny? Really?"

Noah finally snapped and head his head.

"Will you guys stop calling me Cuddle Bunny?! Seriously!"

Flippy spoke.

"You never said why you have that name anyway. It important or something?"

He held his hands in shyness.

"Yeah… But I don't want you guys calling me it anymore… Please?"

Handy crossed his arms.

"Whatever…"

Flippy sat down on a pile of hay.

"Well… Maybe a different way of saying it? How about we call you… Cuddles?"

Noah thought a minute. It sounded a bit better than Cuddle Bunny, and it still kind of kept the same feeling as the old name. He thought that his sister would still like his new name.

He nodded.

"Sure…"

Flippy nodded as well.

"Good. Fine."

Handy spoke.

"Still gonna call you Cuddle Bunny…"

Cuddles looked at the boy.

"Shut up…"

He held his head a bit more, still thinking about the little girl outside.

"Boys… We got a bit of a problem…"

Handy spoke.

"It ain't a problem. She likes me best."

Cuddles drooped his eyebrows.

"Maybe she likes me best."

Flippy spoke out as he dug into a tiny little chest and brought out a bottle of water, marked with an uppercase FI to symbolize that it was his out of the four bottles. They made sure every time they went shopping to get a water jugs, which Noah mostly carried. And Flippy was in charge of refilling them every night.

He poured the clear water over his lips and drank the water swiftly.

"What are you guys talking about?"

They both looked at him, and Handy spoke out.

"We're wondering who Flaky likes. You and her have been here a few weeks, and she's been acting like she likes one of us more than the other. And we're just wondering who."

Flippy shrugged as he screwed the cap of his bottle back on and put it on the ground.

"Just ask her yourself."

Noah nodded.

"Yeah. We gotta know."

He called outside.

"Hey Flaky! Can you come in here?"

The happy little red haired girl heard her friend, and she happily stood up and skipped into the barn, holding the arm of her teddy bear. She stopped and jumped up, then dropped her smile at the sight of Flippys new hair.

"Flippy's hair green… Why Cuddle Bunny pick that color?"

Flippy spoke.

"It's fine, Flaky. And he told us he wants to be ca-"

He spoke out.

"She can call me Cuddle Bunny if she wants to. That make you happy Flaky?"

She nodded and smiled.

"Flaky likes Cuddle Bunny. It a cute name. What you want?"

Cuddles stepped forward and gave a friendly smile. All three of the boys were looking at her a bit strangely, unlike any way she has seen a boy look at her. She did kind of feel a bit uncomfortable.

Handy spoke.

"Flaky… Do you like us?"

She nodded.

"Flaky like you all. You're all Flaky's new best friends."

Cuddles spoke.

"Well… Be honest. You've been acting like you like one of us more than the others. Do you want a boyfriend, Flaky?"

She dropped her jaw.

"A… Boyfriend?"

Handy spoke.

"Come on. Wouldn't it be fun to have a boyfriend? I'd be happy to call you my girlfriend."

Cuddles waved.

"I'd be happier!"

Flaky spoke out.

"Well… Ok… But… What do boyfriends do?"

Handy knelt down to her, so she was a bit taller than him.

"They make you happy. They keep you safe, and warm when you're cold. And I can do all that, you know? Don't you think, since I fixed your teddy bear, that I should… Be your boyfriend?"

Cuddles spoke out.

"You ripped the bear in the first place!"

Handy looked at him and shushed him.

"Shut it!"

Cuddles got in front of him.

"Well, I'd never do that. I'd never make you cry. See… You're kind of special to me, Flakes. I want to be a good boyfriend, because you're a lot like my sister. And besides… I can be you're Cuddle Bunny if you want…"

She smiled.

"Really? Flaky love cuddling! Cuddle Bunny does like warm and snugily."

Handy used his arm to push Cuddles aside.

"I can be warm and snugily too!"

Cuddles spoke out.

"You made her cry!"

Handy yelled.

"I'll never do it again!"

They were in each others faces, bumping their bellies and shouting at each other. Flaky was shaking a little bit in fear at the two angry boys.

"SHE LIKES ME BEST!" "NO, SHE LIKES ME BEST!" "ME!" "NO ME!" "ME!" "ME!"

Finally, Flaky yelled out, with a few tears building up in her green eyes.

"Stop it! Flaky scared!"

They both stood still as she spoke.

"Flaky… Do want a boyfriend… She thinks she'll be happy with a boyfriend…"

Handy waved his hand.

"I'll be your boyfriend! I love you!"

Cuddles waved as well.

"I love you more! I do! Really!"

But through all of this commotion, they all noticed that one of the boys had not spoken. They all looked at the green haired boy, who was simply sitting on the hay and watching the event take place.

He shrugged.

"Ain't my choice…"

Cuddles looked at Flaky.

"Well… It's your choice, Flaky. Who do you want to be your boyfriend?"

Handy nodded.

"Who makes you happy? Which one of us do you love?"

Flaky took a good look at the boys in front of her. Her feelings felt the same for the both of them; somehow, or someway, each of them have made her happy, and at one time have made her either scared or sad as well.

She remembered how Handy ripped her bear, but also how he fixed it to make her feel better. She remembered how Cuddles has always played with her, but made her sad when she heard about his sister. And she remembered how Flippy made her afraid of his evil side.

But she also remembered what all Flippy has done for her. She looked at her teddy bear, and remembered that it once belonged to him when he was younger. She remembered that he made her feel better when she was afraid, that he kept her warm when she was cold. She remembered the moment he gave her the nickname she was still so proud of.

But above all, she remembered the moment she watched him save her from her father.

She began to blush as she had finally decided on who she wants to be her boyfriend.

"Flaky knows who she loves now."

Cuddles pointed at himself with his thumb.

"I knew you'd pick me, Flaky!"

Handy looked at him and pushed him a bit with his hand.

"She didn't say you. Besides, I love her more."

And suddenly, the two once again began to shout at each other, saying they both love her more. They were practically at each others throats over this girl, as they both had the exact same feelings for her. She had to choose one of them, and whoever she chose would love to rub it in the others face.

They both looked forward, and they saw that she was gone. She had ignored the two and walked past them. They both turned around and saw her standing in front of Flippy, with a big smile on her face and a bright red line across her cheeks.

Flippy spoke to her.

"What is it, Flaky?"

And in that moment, as she stared at him so carefully, she thought of just how to speak. She placed her bear on the floor, and held her hands in shyness. She stared at the floor for a quick second while shifting her foot.

And she slowly brought her head up, and spoke straight from her tiny heart.

"Flaky... Love... Flippy."

They dropped their jaws, as the little redhead smiled more, with a fluttering heart fueling her words.

"Will… Flippy be Flaky's boyfriend? Pretty please?"

Flippy blinked a few times as she continued to smile.

"Me? But… Why?"

She picked up her teddy bear and continued to talk.

"Flippy saved Flaky. Flippy makes Flaky happy. Flippy gave Flaky her teddy bear, and she loves it. Flaky used to be sad all the time, but now she not sad anymore. She has… Flippy…"

She carefully placed her hand on his cheek, making him blush along with her.

"Flippy saved Flaky from her mean daddy. He hit me, and drank from his little glass bottle a whole lot."

And for the first time, she revealed a dark secret.

"He… Sometimes… Touched my giney… I hated when he touched my giney..."

Cuddles nudged Handy while listening to the little girl.

"What's a giney?"

Handy shrugged his shoulders as Flaky continued.

"When Flippy got rid of Flaky's daddy, she knew he was a hero… Flippy is Flaky's hero…"

She leaned in, so close that their noses were nearly touching.

"But… How does Flippy feel about Flaky?"

Flippy looked at the little girl, and the sight of her shining green eyes made him understand that she really did care about him. Perhaps she really did love him. After all, she just told him something so secret that no child would tell another in confidence.

He spoke as she let go of his face.

"Nobody has been with me for as long as you have, ever since my family died. You're… The best friend I've ever had…"

And for the first time in a very long while, Flippy smiled at the little girl, shocking her as well as the boys. Flaky was so happy to finally see him smile.

"Flaky… You saved me… "

He bowed his head in shyness, then brought it back up as Flaky backed away.

"I'd… Love to be your boyfriend…"

She smiled as well.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Sure…"

She jumped up and down in excitement as Flippy stood up slowly, and for the first time since he met her, he hugged her. She smiled as she returned the hug, and Noah and Jack watched as they looked so happy to be together, but they were both a bit sad that she did not feel the same for them.

Handy actually was mad.

"Dang! Look at them. They look happy… Aw, crap! Now we're all alone now."

Cuddles looked at him.

"There there. I'm sure there are girls out there for us."

Flippy and Flaky broke from their hug as they both looked at the two boys.

"So… When are we gonna get some beds?"

Handy spoke.

"When we get some money."

Flaky spoke as she quickly clasped Flippys hand.

"Flaky don't need a bed anyway. She's got her new boyfriend to sleep on."

Cuddles spoke, with his head bowed and his hands in a guilty position.

"We… Got money… Look in the big hay pile, on the bottom…"

Flaky dropped her teddy.

"Flaky will!"

She quickly dove into the hay, and they heard rustling as the pile of straw was moving back and forth from the little girls antics. Suddenly, her head popped out of the top, and she pulled out a small black box with two latches on the front.

"Flaky found treasure!"

Cuddles nodded.

"Yeah… My safe box…"

She handed the box to Flippy, and he undid the latches and opened the lid. And all of them except for Cuddles were in shock to see that it was full of money, mostly small bills.

"Money… A whole bunch of money…"

Handy used his right hand to latch onto Cuddles' shirt.

"HEY! You've been holding out on us?!"

Cuddle tried to calm him.

"I'm sorry! I've been saving it for a long time! I've been trying to save up to find a way back home, but I don't think I'll ever get to go back home, 'cause… I don't know where home is…"

Handy pulled the blonde boy closer.

"Where'd you get the money, huh?!"

Cuddles was sweating beads.

"I find them all over the city! On the streets, in the garbage, everywhere! I gather them up and bring them here to put in there. But now I want you guys to have it. I'm sure we got enough money for some beds now! We might even have enough to buy some new clothes to wear at night."

He looked at the tallest boy, who was holding the little red haired girls hand and carefully picking pieces of straw out of her hair. Flaky was sucking her thumb as well.

"Come on, Flippy! Back me up here!"

Flippy looked at the money.

"It probably wasn't right to hide the money from us, but at least you didn't try to spend it on junk. Now we can buy more things. Come on, Handy. Lay off."

Handy let go of Cuddles and looked down.

"Well… Fine. Whatever. You're just lucky we need stuff, Cuddle Bunny, or I'd kick your butt. Let's go shopping."

Flippy stayed behind as Cuddles, Flaky and Handy went into the city with their money supply. The three children went to the clothes store, so they could pick out some nightwear.

Onlookers wondered if they were alone, or where their parents were. They picked up a green shirt and brown shorts for Flippy, a black t-shirt with flames on the front and a pair of blue lounge pants for Cuddles, and a black t-shirt with a silver star on the front and a pair of yellow shorts for Handy.

Finally, the boys were embarrassingly looking at the girls nightwear, while Flaky looked at them all with wide eyes.

Cuddles spoke.

"How about that one?"

He pointed at a pink dress. She shook her head.

"Nah…"

Handy pointed at a set of footie pajamas.

"Those?"

She shook her head once again.

"Nope…

Cuddles leaned over to the other boy.

"Man, who'd thunk we'd be pickin' out girls clothes tonight?"

"Shut up…"

Finally, out of options, Flaky settled on a small white nightgown from the selection and the trio walked to the counter. They had more than enough money for the clothes, and they both decided that they were going to the bed store tomorrow, since they were all a bit tired from the work they did that day.

They paid for the clothes, and they all walked back to the barn as the sun was finally gone and the big white moon began to rise.


	5. Chapter 4

The cold wind blew softly across the empty plains, and the white moon in the sky shone brightly on the barn. The children were home, and they were all fitting into their new night wardrobe. The boys were already dressed, while Flaky went behind the barn to put on her nightgown.

The only problem was they were supposed to get beds.

Cuddles was standing up, Handy was sitting on the ground, and Flippy was sitting on the biggest haypile. They were all looking at each other strangely. Flakys teddy bear was sitting up right next to Flippys ankle.

Cuddles spoke first.

"Well, at least we don't gotta sleep in our clothes anymore."

Handy spoke.

"Why didn't we get beds again?"

Flippy shook his head and spoke.

"How would we get two of them upstairs for Flaky and me?"

Handy grunted and crossed his arms.

"I hate sleeping on the floor! It sucks!"

Cuddles spoke.

"Just sleep on some hay. Works fine for me."

Handy spoke.

"Well… Hey. I got an idea. With all this stupid straw, why don't we get some of those things called… Bed covers? You know, the things poor people stuff with crap like hay?"

Flippy nodded.

"Sounds cheaper than a bunch of a big beds. But what about the frames?"

Handy pointed up with his right hand.

"We can probably make some frames out of wood and some nails. We got enough for some tools?"

Cuddles nodded.

"Oh yeah. We got plenty more."

Flippy stood up.

"Alright, then it's a plan. Tomorrow, we'll go back to the city and get some wood and bed covers to make beds. If we have enough, we'll get some blankets too."

Cuddles smiled and nodded.

"Yeah! Sounds good!"

Suddenly, they all heard a sweet voice from outside.

"YAY! IT FITS!"

An adorable little red haired girl came skipping into the barn, surprising the boys with her new look; her new white nightgown was so bright that it made the color of her hair pop and sparkle. They all looked at her happily, with Flippy beginning to turn red.

She grew a big smile on her face as she ran up to Cuddles and gave him a big hug, squeezing all of her affection into his body.

"Thank you for my new nighty, Cuddle Bunny! I love it, I love it, I LOVE it!"

Cuddles look around and smiled shyly.

"Uh… You're welcome, Flaky."

She let go of the blonde boy and walked over to Flippy.

"Flippy! Flaky really loves her new nighty!"

She spun around, letting the end of her nightgown flow in the breeze. It raised just slightly, showing a good portion of her tiny white legs.

She stopped and smiled at the green haired boy.

"How it look on Flaky?"

He nodded.

"You look really cute like that, since you got a big smile on your face."

She closed her eyes and began to jump up and down in excitement.

"YAY! Flaky's boyfriend thinks she's still cute!"

She instantly wrapped her skinny arms around him, with him just accepting her hug. Cuddles spoke.

"You do look cute."

Handy spoke as well.

"I think you look cute too, Flaky."

Flaky smiled greater.

"Flaky so happy everyone thinks she's cute!"

She let go of Flippys neck and sat down next to him on the haypile. He reached down on the floor and grabbed her teddy bear, then handed it to the little girl. She grabbed the bear and nuzzled her cheek into its belly, and she clasped Flippys hand. She held her bear in the crook of her arm so she could suck the thumb of her free hand.

Cuddles spoke.

"So… Where do we go from here?"

Flippy spoke.

"We can't just stay here?"

Handy spoke.

"Well, we don't got a lot of things. We need to find a way for us to take baths. We stink."

Cuddles got angry, while Flippy spoke.

"So what?"

He looked over to Flaky, who slid her thumb out of her mouth.

"Flaky, you still want to take a bath to get the flakes out your hair?"

She shook her head.

"You love my flakes, don't you? Flaky don't want to if she don't have to."

He stood up.

"I guess you don't have to. We really don't need to be clean. Haven't been for awhile myself. Come on. We don't really need to wash ourselves, do we? We're all homeless, anyway."

Handy spoke.

"Well, what if someone finds us? We wanna at least keep from looking crappy…"

Flippy spoke.

"If someone does, I'm pretty sure they'll figure out that we're homeless."

He shook his head, and let out his arms.

"We ain't really miserable, though. Right, brothers?"

They both looked at him confusingly.

"Brothers?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I've been living here with you guys for a few weeks now. You guys were nice enough to give me a new home, and you treat Flaky pretty good. I'd be happy to call you guys my new brothers."

Flaky nodded.

"Flaky wanna call Cuddle Bunny and Handy brothers too. You're both my bubbies!"

Flippy looked at Cuddles.

"Aren't you guys brothers already?"

Cuddles shook his head.

"Actually, I found Jack in here when I got separated from my folks. I guess, with both of us being the only people we had, we just became friends. But we've been through alot together. So yeah, I guess we are kind of like brothers."

He looked at the orange haired boy.

"Right, Jack?"

Handy nodded.

"Yeah. I guess.

Flippy stood up, with Flaky following so she could still hold his hand. She felt so happy when she held his hand, even if she never admitted it. She just felt a sort of safety and comfort around him, like she was holding the hand of her soul mate. And at such a young age.

Flippy spoke.

"About that… I've been thinkin' Maybe there are kids just like we used to be. Homeless, hungry, and scared. Maybe we should do the same thing for them. Whaddya say we turn this barn into a home for kids like us?"

Handy raised an eyebrow.

"You mean like a homeless shelter? For kids without homes?"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah. It can be like a club. We can take care of each other and live here in the barn."

He looked at Flaky, who looked up with her shining green eyes.

"What do you think? Wouldn't it be fun to have a whole lotta brothers and sisters?"

She nodded.

"Flaky want a sissy! She feels kinda left out, with a bunch of boys around her."

He nodded and looked at his new family.

"So… Then it's a plan? We'll live in this barn, and we'll take care of each other. We'll treat each other like brothers and sisters, and we'll have a different job to do."

The boys both smiled. Cuddles spoke.

"Sounds good! A home for kids who need one. This is gonna be fun, with lotsa bros and sis's around! I know that city we just went to pretty good. I can be the guy that goes there for stuff."

Handy spoke.

"My dad was a construction worker. I can probably fix what needs fixin'."

Flippy nodded.

"And I can handle the farming. My brother was a pretty good scout. Taught me everything he knew."

He felt pride for his new brothers, now knowing they could all really survive out here in the wild.

"Brothers… And a little sister. I'm sure there will be plenty more on the way!"

They all stared into the abyss, lost in daydreams about their future. That is, except for Flaky, who was simply looking at the floor with a bit of a frown on her face. She had let go of Flippys hand and her arms were dangling, with one of them clasping her teddy bear. She felt cheated, and lied to, after hearing their plans. Somehow, she felt she was a little more important to Flippy.

Flippy spoke to the little girl.

"Anyway, Flaky. You about ready to go up for bed?"

She spoke very sternly.

"I wanna sleep downstairs…"

He nodded.

"Ok. We can sleep downstairs tonight if you want to."

She was actually beginning to get a bit teary eyed.

"You go upstairs. I'll stay down here. I don't wanna sleep with you, Flippy."

They all noticed her sad expression, and Flippy kneeled down to her.

"What's the matter?"

And suddenly, they all watched as she burst into tears, and they all felt a little broken inside, seeing a once bubbly and happy child look so miserable. Finally, she did the unthinkable; she raised up her teddy bear and slammed it on the floor.

Flippy was so shocked seeing her throw her teddy bear to the ground, and was even more shocked to see her run out of the barn, crying rows of tears.

And they were so confused.

Cuddles looked at Flippy.

"She okay?"

Flippy shrugged.

"I don't know. Hang on."

He picked up her teddy bear.

"I'll go talk to her."

He walked out the barn doors, leaving the two boys alone. They had no idea what was going on, and neither was Flippy. He walked out to see her kneeling on the ground, with her hands over her crying eyes.

He walked up to her.

"You dropped your teddy."

She let her hands move away from her eyes, as she suddenly gave an angry look. She stood up and turned around, and forcefully grabbed the teddy bear. She then turned back around, and with all her might, she threw the bear away, making him a bit sad and confused.

She started stomping her feet, as she was having an all out hissy fit.

"YOU LIED TO ME!"

She gave a nasty glare to the boy.

"I thought you were SUPPOSED to like me more than a sissy!"

She crossed her arms and turned her back to him.

"But you don't. I thought you wanted to be my boyfriend."

Flippy gave a sad look, as he could just feel the heartbreak she was going through. Only a girl who truly loved him would be become so upset at something so simple. But what made him upset was that she felt unloved.

He spoke through his shame.

"But… I thought…"

She turned around and yelled in his face.

"You make me feel like a dummy! You make me think you really did like me, but you just think I'm your sissy. Well, I'm not!"

She turned around again and shut her eyes.

"Go away now. Leave me alone, big meanie."

And he had yet to make a move, feeling a tightening in his chest. He never intended to make her feel so unloved, or so unwanted by him. He had no intention to treat her like a sister, as he felt the same she felt for him. Only now, she hated him. And he hated himself.

And he felt his past beginning to be remembered; somehow, everyone he has ever felt close to has begun to either hate him, or has died.

And now, he has lost the girl he thought for a day would love him forever.

He looked down, feeling rotten inside.

"Well… Fine… If that's what you want… But… Before I go… Can I tell you something?"

She never moved, as she just wanted him to go. And he figured, it was now or never to explain his feelings. He took a deep breath, and spoke to the angry little girl.

"You… Gotta believe me… I didn't mean I'd treat you like a sister… I did want you as a girlfriend. I still do. 'Cause… Ever since you asked me to be your boyfriend, I've been really happy."

And now, she was beginning to feel sorry for what she said. She brought her angry eyebrows into a sad look, as he continued to speak.

"And… I'm glad that… For the first time in a long time, someone told me they love me. I can't tell you how much I need love, Flaky. So… I'm gonna tell you something I've never told you… Or anyone."

She turned her head around, and she saw just how heartfelt his words were. He was not crying, but he sure felt like crying. And now, so did she.

He took one final breath, then began to walk away as he spoke.

"I… Love you too…"

And her eyes instantly perked up as she turned around.

"Wait! What'd you say?"

He stopped walking.

"Phillip… What'd you just say?"

He bowed his head.

"I said… I love you."

She dropped her jaw.

"R-Really…?"

He nodded.

"I've been alone… For a pretty long time… Ever since my family died, I thought I'd be alone forever. But then… I found you. I saw you crying, and I… Just couldn't let you be there anymore… And I'm glad I did… I'm happy I met you…"

He turned his head to her.

"Don't forget me… Please… I'm never gonna forget you…"

And finally, she felt her tiny heart begin to burn again. She had no idea that he felt the same as her. Her father had her believe that she was never going to really be loved by a boy, and he showed it by making her feel so miserable.

She could still feel his evil fingers on her private area.

But Flippy. All Flippy has ever done to her is make her happy. He gave her a new home. A new family. A new teddy bear. A new name. A new look on people.

And a new life.

And she could not let him leave now.

"Wait! Phillip! Please don't go! Please!"

She ran up to him, as he stopped in his tracks and turned around. She looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry… I don't… Want you to go..."

He nodded.

"But… I thought you hated me now..."

And she gave him such a sad look. He could feel just how sorry she was, as she was beginning to cry again. And she instantly grabbed his body and hugged him tightly, just wanting to be close to him one more time.

She spoke while she continued to sob.

"You… Stayed right by me… You never leaved… And you… Gave me my name… I don't gotta be Autumn anymore… I can be Flaky forever… And… You saved me…"

She looked up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen.

"I don't hate you… Flaky… Love you…"

He opened his mouth slightly.

"You… Still love me?"

She nodded and pushed her face into his chest.

"Yes. Flaky love Flippy. She did ever since he saved her from her mean, giney touching daddy… Flippy makes Flaky feel happy, and safe, and warm. She do love Flippy. She do. Flaky love hugging Flippy. She love cuddling with Flippy. She love being around Flippy."

She let go of him and grabbed his hands, still crying so hard.

"Please… Don't go, Phillipy… I'm sorry… Flippy… Is the best person in the world to Flippy. And… Without you… There is no Flaky…"

Flippy could just tell that she really meant those words, whether it be from her crying eyes or her red face. He really did mean the world to her, even though the first thing he ever did is make her watch as he brutally murdered her father.

But somehow, that was the reason she loved him.

He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her body, just under her armpits. She felt as he carefully lifted her up off the ground. She squealed just a bit, but then she felt warm again and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She then wrapped her legs around his body, so he had no chance to drop her.

He was holding her like a little baby.

He whispered carefully as she continued to sniffle.

"Calm down… I'm not going anywhere… I'm staying right here, right next to you."

She opened her crying eyes.

"Flippy promise?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. Come on."

He let her go, and she quickly grabbed his hand.

"Let's get you to bed."

She nodded.

"Yeah… Flaky wanna sleep…"

He nodded.

"Okay. Come on."

She finally smiled and she walked with him inside of the barn. They walked through the doors, and Cuddles and Handy saw that they were both emotional, with her red in the face as she wiped her tears, and Flippy looking like he had just died and been reborn.

He allowed her to go up the ladder first, so he could talk with the boys.

"She's okay. You guys get some sleep, okay? Night."

They both nodded as he nodded as well. He was about to climb the ladder as well.

But then he remembered her bear.

The two watched as he sprinted across the floor and out the doors. He looked around outside for her bear, spending a while to look for it. It was pretty dark at night.

Finally, he found it on the ground and quickly picked it up.

He was beginning to remember the little girl, how special she was to him. And as he stared at the teddy bear, he was starting to recall his past, how he received the bear.

* * *

It was given to him when he was 3 years old, by a certain young man.

He was a small toddler, with a small round face and short brown hair on his head. It was third birthday, and he was celebrating at the only place he could be safe.

He was at his mothers house, and it was just her, his older brother and his older sister with him.

He quickly blew the candles on his birthday cake out, and the two younger people clapped in celebration. The middle aged woman was happiest, as she quickly snapped a picture of her little brother as he smiled with his barely tooth filled mouth. He felt so happy and loved around his mother and older siblings, feeling like they were the only people that cared about him.

The older brother handed him a tiny box.

"Here ya go, little buddy."

Phillip smiled as he quickly ripped into the box, and he found what it was hiding; a barely new teddy bear. But he did not care about its condition, and he quickly hugged the toy close to his little body.

He smiled, as the younger woman leaned in towards him.

"Say… Isn't that your old bear?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. He can have it."

His mother spoke silently.

"Are you sure? You've had that bear for as long as I can remember, Patrick."

He nodded.

"He probably needs it more than I do."

The two women exchanged a glance, then shrugged and looked at the giggling little boy. He looked so happy to have a new teddy bear to call his own.

His mother picked the little boy up and planted several small kisses around his happy face. She loved her little boy, more and more every day she knew him.

And the little boy happily smiled as the younger woman and man wrapped their arms around him as well, making him feel the love he deserved for that special day.

It would be 2 years later when his mother died of breast cancer. It was the saddest day of his life.

* * *

Flippy found himself back in reality, staring at the bear. He barely tries to remember his family, no matter how loving they were. It was better that way, so he would not remember the fateful night that led him to be where he was now.

He quickly sprinted into the barn, seeing that Cuddles and Handy were already asleep on the haypiles. He climbed up the ladder and found Flaky, curled up in a ball underneath his blanket. He walked over to her and carefully stuck her bear under her body. She instantly responded and grabbed the bear, and she smiled as she continued to sleep soundly.

Flippy walked over to the wall, and pressed his body against. He slid his back down the wall and let his bottom touch the floor. He bowed his head as he yawned a bit, then felt himself begin to nod off.

The wind was still blowing, and its chilling air made him shiver a bit. He did not care if he was cold, as he only cared if she was or not. He simply brushed his cold shoulder and let himself drift off to sleep.

And he heard the sounds of a crowd of fans, cheering for him. And he heard two small voices.

 _Come on Phillip! Smack that ball outta the park! You can do it! We love you, little brother!_


	6. Chapter 5

As his dream began to cloud his mind, Flippy heard the sound of a baseball bat cracking against a speeding ball, and the cheering of the onlookers. He felt himself be hoisted on the shoulders of a strong soldier, and be hugged and kissed by an affectionate woman.

He found himself in the backseat of a car, and in the front was his older brother driving the car. He was wearing an army uniform, he had green eyes, much like Phillip, and his dark brown hair was styled so it formed a sort of dome around his head.

And in the passenger seat was his older sister, a beautiful young woman also with dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing jeans and a red varsity jacket, once belonging to her boyfriend.

She looked back at the boy, who wearing a red baseball uniform and a red cap.

"Phillip, you did so good! I'm so proud of you!"

Phillip smiled.

"Really? I really did good?"

Patrick smiled.

"Yep. You really laid the smackdown on that ball. You're gonna be a great ball player one day, little bro."

Phillip began to hop in his seat.

"Yay! I'm gonna be a ball player! I can't wait till I get home so I can practice my throwing!"

And suddenly, the two adults dropped their smiles. They were both worried about the little boy, for his safety as well as his health. When his mother died, his father gained custody to him, much to the displeasure of his two older children. But when his father was away from the house, they immediately went to his house to pick up Phillip.

The poor little boy hated his father, who always hit him and tried to keep him away from his loving siblings. He took to alcohol after his wife died, and the dreaded poison has tampered with him mind as well as his spirit. He used to be a caring man, until the day cancer got the best of the woman he loved.

But that was no excuse for child abuse.

The woman looked at Patrick.

"You think we should tell him now?"

He nodded as he arched his brows in determination.

"Yeah. Phillip, listen. We're not gonna let you be around Dad anymore, okay? We're gonna take care of you from now on."

The naive boy tilted his head.

"Huh? Why?"

The girl looked at him.

"Bubby, we're worried about you. You keep telling us you get marks and bruises from Dad, right?"

The boy bowed his head.

"Yeah… But I'm fine, Penny."

Penny looked at the man, and he raised his voice.

"Listen, kid. I'm not gonna let you keep getting hurt by him. I know you're scared, 'cause you keep saying you are. So here's what's gonna happen; you're gonna stay with me at my house until I go back to service, then you'll stay with Penny and her boyfriend. Okay?"

Phillip felt a little safer, but he was still confused.

"Are… You sure, big brother? Sissy?"

She nodded as she turned back to him.

"We'll protect you, bubby. Don't worry. He won't find you."

Phillip bowed his head, thinking about the mean man he was being tortured by. He had no idea what he was being abused for, as he considered himself a pretty decently behaved child. But still, he did feel scared to be home around him, and a whole lot safer to be around his siblings.

Phillip smiled.

"Okay."

Penny smiled as well.

"Good. Now then, what do you say we get some ice cream, huh?"

Phillip opened his mouth in a big smile.

"Really?!"

They both smiled as well.

"Sure. A reward for our all-star little brother."

The little boy was excited for his sugary treat, but was more afraid of his impending doom. He was so terrified that his father will find him again, and he just had a nasty feeling in his gut that it would be soon. He tried to keep his hopes and dreams high as he spent the day with his two favorite people, but they still noticed his worried look.

* * *

Phillip found himself now on a large bed, with no blanket but a fluffy pillow at the head. He was not smiling, as he still kept a worried look on his face, even though he was safe at his brothers house. He was in a freshly cleaned grey shirt and brown shorts.

His young 8 year old mind was lost with the thoughts of either his mother or his father.

His mother, bless her heart, was a wonderful woman to him. She cared about him, treated him so lovingly and kindly, like a mother should be. But when she was diagnosed with the lethal sickness, known as breast cancer, he only hoped she would survive and be with him forever.

And he remembered the day he and his siblings went to see her on her deathbed.

Phillip was clutching his mothers freezing palm, as she turned her eyes to his. His eyes were overflown with tears, and his little face was red with emotion. He was at the young age of 5 on that day, and he had no intention to grow up without her at his side.

She whispered gently to him.

"Phillip… My beautiful baby boy…"

He nodded, with tears still flowing.

"Yes… Mommy?"

She carefully spoke to her youngest boy, and her words struck his heart with sadness.

"Promise me something, honey…"

His eyes perked open.

"Huh?"

He leaned in, as she clutched his tiny hand with all her strength.

"Promise me… Never stop being… Phillip Masterson…"

His chest began to hurt, and his eyes could not have been more teary. And the little boy watched in horror as she smiled her last smile, and breathed her last gust of air. And he heard the deafening sound of the heart rate monitor flatline.

Those sights, sounds and memories shall last forever in his young mind.

And he will never forget that after that day, his father was nearly always away from home. He was usually spending his weekly paycheck on alcohol, finding it the only thing to ease the pain of losing his wife. He became addicted to the liquid poison, and it became the key factor to his frightening appearance to his youngest son.

But at the same time, it became his reason for being; drinking alcohol, and coming home to cause pain and misery for the only thing he had to his name, other than a shoddy house and two older children that despised him.

Phillip looked out the window, at the night sky. He had imagined that the stars were his only friends, the only people other than his siblings that will continue to shine for him.

"Hi bubby!"

He turned his head to the door, and he saw his two older idols walk into the room, with the intention to wish him sweet dreams. Penny was in a oversized white shirt and pink polka dotted lounge pants, while Patrick was in a set of blue pajamas.

They both walked over to the boy, who looked at them with sad eyes.

'Hi…"

She rubbed his head.

"About ready for bed?"

He nodded, as she noticed his rather barren looking bed.

"Hey… Where's your blanket?"

Patrick scratched the back of his neck.

"Heh heh… Forgot to buy one for the guest bed…"

She arched her brows at her brother.

"Nice, Pat. Real nice."

He gave an embarrassed look, as Phillip was hugged tightly by the young woman.

"Don't worry. You can use Pat's blanket, okay? He can sleep cold tonight…"

Patrick smiled.

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

They both dropped their caring smiles, as the little boy was still so upset. Not only was he remembering his dear mother, but the fear of being taken by his horrible father. He wished his father would return to his old caring ways, when he was fun to be around, and he was affectionate.

Penny pulled him close to her.

"Hey. What's the matter?"

He spoke quietly.

"Nothin'."

Pat spoke as he sat down at Philips other side.

"Somethin'."

Phillip bowed his head.

"I… I'm scared, alright? I'm scared of Dad."

They both shared a glance, then looked down at the boy. Penny spoke to him.

"Don't be. We won't let him get you."

Phillip shook his head.

"I know… But what if he comes tonight?"

They both grew defiant looks, as Penny spoke in a protective voice.

"If he wants you, he'll have to go through me."

Patrick balled his fists angrily.

"And me. I've been waiting to kick his ass for years now."

Hearing that his siblings would protect him, Phillip did feel a little better. But he could not shake his fear of being taken away from them, and being brought back by his worst enemy. He had nowhere safe to go, other than at his brothers house. It would be the first place their father would go to look for the boy.

And through all this, he kept his memories fresh.

"Mom would've protected me too…"

And now, the two adults felt sorry for their little brother. They loved their mother as well, but they could tell that he loved her a whole lot more, since he was so young.

Penny always dreamt of being a mother, and her and her boyfriend had plans of being parents. She decided to comfort him by planting a loving kiss on his forehead, what she normally did when he was sad. His mood began to brighten as he looked up.

She spoke to him.

"I know you miss her, just like we do. And I know it was hard seeing her pass away."

Phillip nodded.

"Yeah…"

Penny wrapped both of her arms around his body and pulled him into her body, hugging him affectionately.

"And well… Dad is supposed to be watching over you… But he ain't doing a very good job, is he?"

Phillip shook his head, as Patrick placed a hand on his small back.

"But that's what we're here for. We're your guardians."

Penny smiled as she looked down at him.

"And we're gonna keep being your guardians. We promise, even if you can't see or hear us, we'll be there to love you."

Phillip looked up.

"Really?"

Patrick smiled.

"Of course."

Penny smiled as well.

"You're special to the both of us, Phillip. To me, you're such a lovely boy. You're cute as a button, and you make me so happy."

Phillip broke free from her grip as Patrick placed his hand on his shoulder.

"And to me, you're my little buddy. My apprentice scout, and a pretty good one too. You are Penny are the reason I want to fight in the army, so I can protect you with all I got from anybody who wants to hurt you. Just like I'll protect you from Dad."

Phillip looked at these two brave people, the best two individuals in his life. He felt so much care and so much safety from them, something only older siblings can provide in that way. And what she said, that they would always be with him, would be the memory that keeps him alive; other than Flaky, they were they only people that truly loved him.

Phillip smiled.

"Thanks… You guys… I… I love you both so much…"

And they both gave him the biggest hug they could.

"We love you too…"

But suddenly, in the middle of their embrace, they heard the sound of truck tires screeching to a halt outside. Pat broke from the hug, and walked over to the window.

And walking towards the house, covered in the shadow of the night, was a tall man, burly and sporting brown locks and a scruffy beard. And his clothes were stained and torn, with his plaid shirt being covered in brown splotches, and his denim jeans filled with holes filled with threads of fabric.

And he called out in a loud, deep and menacing sounding voice.

"PHILLIP! PATRICK! PENNY! WHERE THE HELL IS MY BOY?!"

Patrick closed the blinds and ran for the door.

"Penny, keep him safe. I'll drive him off."

She nodded, as the two watched as the man ran out the door.

"Hurry! Get under the bed!"

Phillip did what he was told and got down off the bed, then quickly crawled under it. Penny kneeled down to see him, and saw he was worried and scared. His little heart was pounding with fear, as he heard a commotion from downstairs. It sounded like two gladiators fighting for their lives.

He looked up at his sister.

"Sissy… I'm scared…"

She reached under and patted his head.

"It's alright, bubba. Pat's gonna get rid of him, and then we'll get out of here."

He shook in fear, just hoping and praying that his father will be defeated and will leave him alone. And coming from downstairs, he heard a squishing sound, and a body fall to the ground. He then heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

Penny stood up and watched as the door swung open. She hoped it was Patrick, with a big smile on his face. But instead, it was their father, with a red painted knife in his hand.

She gasped.

"D-D-Dad!"

He slurred a bit.

"That him under there?"

Penny called down.

"Phillip! Run!"

She clasped her hands on the mans wrists, and Phillip quickly wriggled out from under the bed and ran for the door. The man watched his son ignore him, and he quickly ran his free hand across his only daughters face, making her fall to the ground. He huffed and puffed as he shut the door and followed the little boy.

Phillip ran as fast as he could down the stairs, just wishing for this day to be a nightmare. He wished silently in his head that his sister will be okay, and the police would come to save him.

He saw the open front door, and was about to make a run for it, until he noticed something odd on the floor. And he was in shock to see his worst nightmare come true.

On the floor, with blood seeping through a gash in his red soaked wardrobe, was Phillips older brother Patrick. Lifeless. And the poor little boy had never felt so crushed and helpless before, seeing his brother dead just minutes after he last talked to the man.

He ran over and knelt down to Patrick, as he tried shaking him to get him to wake up. The tears just continued to flow from his young eyes.

"Pat… Big brother… Please… Don't be dead…"

But suddenly, he jerked his head up when he heard the sound of stomping footsteps coming from the stairs. He began to shake once again at the sight of his father, and his sister was nowhere nearby.

He spoke to the little boy.

"Phillip… There you are… Come on, we're getting out of here…"

But Phillip watched as the young woman he loved so much came storming down the stairs, and she instantly jumped on the mans back and wrapped her arms around his head. He thrashed about as she screamed curse after curse at him, blaming him for everything that has ever happened to her, to Patrick and to her little brother.

The man, getting annoyed, reached behind his back and forcefully grabbed her hair and pulled it, making her lose her grip. He turned around and clasped her neck, and he stared into her eyes as he was seething with rage.

"Little bitch!"

And Phillip watched as the young woman was stabbed in the throat. He heard the heartbreaking sound of her gagging on her own blood as she fell to the floor, and he watched as the man stood tall above them all. The devil himself could not imagine a more horrifying scene.

Now, the little boy was alone, and he was scared. He watched, with his own two eyes, the only people he had left in this world be taken away from him. No one to love anymore, and no one to protect him from evil entities such as the one in front of him.

And the tears just would not stop rolling down his cheeks.

"No…"

The man walked over to the boy and grabbed his wrist.

"Come on. We're leaving these two worthless pieces of trash to rot. We're getting outta this city."

Phillip looked up at the man, and saw his evil face.

"You… You monster…"

The man scoffed.

"Whatever… Let's go…"

And in one split second, Phillip felt all the fear and all the rage being built up in his body be gathered and formed in a ball in his mind. He had never felt so angry, so scared, so broken before.

The man, shockingly, watched as the boy grabbed the hand carrying the blood covered knife. And suddenly, he felt a stinging pain in his nether regions, as Phillips size 4 shoe had just been used to weaken his father and make him lose his grip.

Showing no emotion, the young boy saw the knife and grabbed it off the floor.

And the shadows of the night watched as a little boy, 8 years old and feeling nothing but inner and outer pain, began to forcefully thrust the blade into the body of the man. He stabbed the man in the chest, in the limbs, in the throat, in the abdomen, and everywhere else that was vulnerable.

Years worth of dread and fear and a huge amount of rage was changing the little boy. After every stab, he felt himself change more and more. He felt his teeth begin to grow sharp and triangular, and he heard his voice become deeper and deeper.

His father was only one victim. After losing his family, he travelled to every city in the area, just looking for food and warm places to sleep. But in every place he has been in, the memories of what has been burned into his brain has come back to him.

Just seeing the blood, hearing the screams, feeling the pain or witnessing the torment. It was all enough to make him return to that other version of himself.

And suddenly, the flashback was over, and the nightmare began.


	7. Chapter 6

Flippy found himself lost in the streets of a destroyed city. The cold rain was pelting him as the sounds of their echoes rang in his ears, but it did not haunt him as much as the sound of utter silence. The people were confined in their homes out of fear of him, afraid for their lives. They watched him running, many noticing his many cuts and bruises from his days of surviving alone.

But they did not care if he was young, or cold, or hungry. He was an evil, heartless child in their eyes.

He began hearing the accusations of the people that have seen the things he has done.

"My god! He must be the spawn of Satan!" "What a horrible boy!" "Somebody shoot that little bastard already!""Please! Just kill that beast already!"

And he remembered the first order he had heard from a police radio, from the commander of the force.

"Be on the lookout for him, men! If you come in contact with Masterson, you are permitted to shoot on sight. He has been officially been made wanted dead or alive."

The nightmare was becoming worse, and more traumatizing by the minute. He heard the rumble of explosions from behind him, and he felt the wind blow against his face, feeling like invisible razor blades. The sight of blood began to haunt him, as it began to replace the raindrops.

He was running past a store that had several televisions on display, when he heard something shocking.

"In other news, police are on the lookout for Phillip Masterson,"

He stopped in his tracks and looked at the TV.

"a nine year old boy charged with several counts of second degree murder. He has been code named, 'The Demon Child.'"

Flippy remembered how shocked he was to hear the horrifying name.

"The Demon Child has been made wanted dead or alive, and a large bounty has been placed on him. But police urge you; please remain in your homes until he is brought to justice."

He saw just how scared the woman was, and he watched her shiver in fear. And the reflection off the dirty glass showed an ashamed little boy, feeling guilty at just the sight of how this scared the woman was.

And she broke out in tears, pounding on her news anchor desk.

"My god… Please, to all those brave men and women… Kill that monster as soon as you can! The Demon Child, Phillip Masterson, is a menace to our society and needs to be put down! Kill him! Please, for the love of god, kill him!"

The guilt and the hatred the poor little boy was feeling deep in his gut was too much to bear. He was so young, and yet people already want to see him die. Much worse, they want him to be shot and killed.

And that name. That horrible new name.

He began to run, crying row after row of tears. He heard the screams of people running for their lives from him. And he saw so much blood, now running down the sides of the buildings and pouring onto his head from the lacerated sky.

And through his misery, he began to hear the horrible chanting of that name from his other half, who was taunting him out of heartlessness.

" **Demon… Child… Demon… Child…"**

Fliqpys voice was getting louder and louder, and Flippy continued to run and cry.

" **Demon Child. Demon Child."**

Flippy stopped in his tracks and fell to his knees, clasping his head and bawling.

" **DEMON CHILD! DEMON CHILD! DEMON CHILD!"**

And the poor little boy just could not stop crying. The pain was overwhelming, and the guilt was becoming intoxicating. Fliqpys horrible voice repeated over and over in his mind, as the area became darker and bloodier.

The child was so afraid, and he yelled as loud as he could.

"NO! STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Fliqpy screamed louder and louder.

" **DEMON CHILD DEMON CHILD DEMON CHILD! HAHAHAHAHA!"**

And Flippy just could not take the pain anymore.

"SHUT UP! STOP! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The nightmare was becoming so traumatizing, and Flippy kept his hands on his throbbing head. His fingers dug so deep into his skull that lines of blood began to trickle down his forehead, covering his face in the abhorred liquid and cursing his face with its stains. He hated blood; its sickening stench and its bitter taste. But it was the fuel for his evil side, who continued to laugh and torture the boy in his head.

Soon enough, the city had vanished and now the little boy was stuck in pitch black darkness. And more and more blood was falling from the sky above him, now forming a pool beneath his knees. He could practically feel the thick red substance on his skin.

And appearing around him was thousands, literally millions of faceless shadows, all chanting a curse upon his head. And he heard Fliqpys voice chant along with them.

 _"Kill the Demon Child! Kill the Demon Child! Kill the Demon Child!"_

And his bawling was louder than their chanting.

"STOP SAYING THAT! GO AWAY! STOP! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

But soon enough, just before he was about to lose control once again from the pain, he heard something new. A sweet sound, from a fallen angel. A gentle voice, like the coo of a dove.

"Flippy! Wake up! You're having a bad dream!"

Flippy opened his crying eyes, and saw his dream beginning to literally crack, as many small openings were beginning to form in the air. And from every crack, a bright white light began to shine and pierce the evil darkness. The shadows began to fade, and the blood began to dry from beneath him. It was like an angel was sent to vanquish the darkness.

And Flippy recognized the sweet voice.

"Flaky…"

* * *

And suddenly, the nightmare was fading, and Flippy felt his mind begin to wake up. He slowly opened his tired eyes, and saw the little redhead in front of him. She had a worried expression on her face, as she heard his screaming from her own slumber. She had her hand on his cheek, and he felt his freezing pain by warmed by her palm.

He groaned a bit, and rubbed his head, which was back to its green color.

"Flaky… Thanks for waking me…"

She spoke quietly.

"Flippy okay?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I have nightmares all the time. I'm used to it. Don't worry."

He looked out the hole in the wall, and still saw the night sky he fell asleep to.

"Still pretty early. Back to sleep, Flaky."

She removed her hand as he got up to his feet.

"I don't wanna sleep if you don't."

He wagged his finger at her.

"You need your rest. I'll be fine. Just goin' for a walk."

She instantly grabbed his hand.

"Flaky not gonna sleep. She ain't sleepy no more."

He looked down to her.

"Look… I'm gonna be fine okay. It's just… I need some time alone right now. I promise I'll come right back, okay? Here. Come on. I'll tuck you under your blanket."

They walked hand in hand over to the balled up blanket on the floor. He picked it up and she sat down flat on the floor. He carefully laid her down and threw the blanket over her. He then ran his hand under her back and up to her neck on one side, then walked over and did the same to the other. She raised up her legs and he tucked the remainder of her blanket under them.

Now she was stuck, but she was cozy.

She sighed in pleasure.

"Flaky loves her blankey…"

Flippy nodded.

"Good… Now… Back to sleep, now."

She sadly watched him climb down the ladder. She was worried about her dear friend, as she truly cared about him and hated the way he looked when he was having his nightmare. But she did not want to make him upset by going against his orders, so she threw the blanket over her head and shut her eyes.

She popped her thumb into her mouth and slowly began to snore.

* * *

Flippy kept his hands in his pockets as he walked through the dense woods. He had the sights of his nightmare on his mind, especially the remembrance of his siblings. He had not thought about them in weeks, since the day he met Flaky. But somehow, the word of his sister seemed like malarkey to him.

How could they always be with him from heaven?

He spoke to himself in his mind.

"Haven't had that dream in a while. Man, they seem so far away from me. I thought they said they'll always be here for me. So why aren't they?"

He sat down against a tree.

"Big brother… Sissy…"

But then, he heard a familiar voice, and he saw a frightening sight. The boy saw a young man suddenly appear right next to him, wearing an army uniform and sporting a caring look to him.

"Hello, Phillip."

Flippy looked up and saw his older brother next to him. He was so confused.

"Big brother? Is it… Really you?"

He nodded.

"We told you we'll always be here, right? Whenever you need us."

And suddenly, at his other side, he saw his sister suddenly appear as well. She was once again wearing her jeans and red varsity jacket, and she was well looked so caring and heartfelt.

"And now we're here."

Flippy looked at her so lovingly.

"Sissy… You're here too…"

He looked at them both so strangely.

"What are you doing here?"

Patrick smiled.

"We came to tell you… We're proud of you…"

Penny nodded.

"Yes. We are. You're doing such a great job."

Phillip bowed his head.

"But… I'm a monster…"

Patrick shook his head.

"Not to those kids. You've done so much for them, and you're making them all so happy."

Penny smiled as well.

"Especially Flaky. You've made her so happy, giving her everything she needs. You gave her a new life, bud. And she's a cutie! Plus, she loves you."

Flippy raised his head.

"I don't know… Maybe she doesn't really…"

Patrick spoke in a stern voice.

"Kid, if you can't tell by how she treats you that she loves you, then just ask her if she does."

Penny smiled.

"I guarantee that she will say yes. You're special to her, just like she's special to you."

Flippy blinked a few times.

"She… Is special to me… So is Cuddles and Handy… They're my family now…"

He had grown so attached to his new friends, as he felt them all become more than just comrades to him. He felt Cuddles to be his scout brother, and he felt Handy to be his grumpy brother. But most of all, he felt so much love for the little girl named Flaky.

Patrick looked down at the boy.

"If you really think that… Then prove that to them…"

Penny looked down as well.

"Phillip… We want you to promise us something. Promise that you'll never leave them. Keep them close to you."

Flippy looked up.

"But… What if they find out about me? And… They don't like me anymore?"

Patrick smiled.

"For what you've done for them, I doubt losing their trust will be so hard. And as for Flaky, you are to never leave her. She's too small to be left behind, and you love her, right? So go ask if she really loves you, okay? Just so you know."

Penny smiled as well.

"Be a good boyfriend to her, bubby. Okay?"

Flippy thought for a minute; seeing his brother and sister return from the dead to give him advice about the people he cares about must mean they care about his happiness. And they knew his real feelings for the little girl and the other boys were true, or else they would not have arrived. But still, he did doubt Flakys feelings for him, as perhaps she was just saying that she loves him.

After all, nobody has loved him since the two spirits that were sitting next to him.

Flippy nodded and stood up.

"Okay… I will… I'll never leave them… And I'll go ask if she really loves me…"

They both nodded as Patrick spoke.

"Good. And remember, we're always here for you."

And Flippy watched as Patrick disappeared. And Penny smiled as she was beginning to fade as well.

"That's right. We love you, little brother…"

And then, she was gone as well. Flippy was all alone again, and he had a mission to accomplish. After having the same nightmare once again, he needed to know if he was even capable of being loved, especially by such an adorable young girl. An adorable young girl that had been beaten and molested by her father, which would normally cause any other child difficulty to trust anybody.

But if she loves him, then those memories do not matter to her anymore.

He nodded in determination and looked up at the sky. He had no idea he had been out for so long, as he saw the sky was turning pink from the beautiful sunrise.

* * *

Flaky was still lost in a sweet dream as Flippy climbed up the ladder. He saw the cute little girl curled into a ball, and she was clutching her teddy bear close to her. He remembered how worried she looked when she woke him up from his nightmare, and he recalled seeing those beautiful green eyes of hers in the middle of the night.

He walked over to her and whispered quietly.

"Flaky… You awake?"

She slowly opened her eyes and moaned from her nights sleep. She rolled over and saw her beloved.

"Hi…"

He nodded.

"Hi. You sleep good?"

She nodded.

"Flaky slept like she was a little baby again…"

She carefully rolled out of the blanket and got up to her feet, and she carefully rubbed her tiny eyes and yawned silently. She was happy to see him, but she kept the sounds of sights of him the previous night on her mind.

"You scare Flaky last night. Flippy okay?

He nodded.

"Yeah. Just a bad dream…"

He remembered his mission.

"Here…"

He opened up his arms.

"Can I have a hug?"

She smiled and slowly walked to him and gave him his hug. And it was not her normal squeezing hug, but a rather affectionate embrace to the young boy. And she was growing a bright red line across her cheeks as he hugged her back, by wrapping one of his arms on her upper back and the other clasping the back of her head.

She looked up to him.

"Is this all Flippy wanted? A huggy?"

He looked down to her.

"Well… No… Listen…"

He let her go and knelt down to meet her at eye level.

"I dreamed about my family last night… It's not fun to see them again, since I still miss them pretty much. But… Then the weirdest thing happened… I talked to them when I went out for a walk… And…"

He bowed his head, thinking about how to explain his feelings to her.

"Flaky…"

He raised it up.

"Look… I keep wondering… Do you really… Like me? You know… As a boy?"

She stared at him so closely, and saw the look in his eyes; he really was a bit doubtful on their relationship. And that was not how she wanted him to feel, as he was her first love and she was his first as well. There had to be a way to show her affection to him.

Then, her naive little brain thought up an idea.

While he was kneeling down in front of her, she gently clasped the sides of his head and brought her lips up to his forehead. She smiled as she gently kissed him, and he felt a familiar warmth and care from this very type of action.

It was the same comforting method his older sister used on him. And it worked just as effectively here as it did then.

She backed away as she kept her hands on his head.

"You're silly…"

He sat there in emotionless shock.

"Flaky… I…"

She smiled as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Flippy is Flaky's boyfriend! Flaky love Flippy!"

He looked at her with a confused look as she continued to hug him.

"Why'd you kiss me, Flaky?"

She let him go so she could look into his emerald eyes.

"Cuddle Bunny told me that girls who like boys give them kissies. Now Flippy know Flaky love him?"

Flippy kept his shocked expression, just feeling her warm kiss on his forehead. He kept the memory of his sister alive with the kiss beginning to burn, and that feeling of love from such a simple act came rushing back to him.

He now knew the truth; the little redhead truly loved him.

And he responded by smiling.

"I… Love you too…"

She smiled, as she let go of his head.

"Want a kiss too?"

Her eyes perked up.

"Really?!"

He nodded.

"Sure. Gotta be fair, since you kissed me."

She smiled and began to lightly hop, excited for her first kiss. He turned his head to think about where to kiss her. He did not want to copy her and kiss her forehead, though. Perhaps her cheek? Or maybe her nose?

He turned his head, and was confused to see the little redhead had her back arched, as if she was looking up. Her arms were straight and her fingers were spread apart. Her eyes were closed, and she had a bright line across her cheeks.

But was stuck the most was her lips, which were puckered and awaiting his.

He spoke.

"Uh… What are you doing?"

She opened one eye.

"Waiting for a kissie…"

She shut her eye and stretched out a little more. Flippy could hear her silent moaning, like she was practically begging for a kiss. He never gave one to a girl before, and had no idea how yet. Sure, he wanted to, but with what she has been through in her years, he doubted she would want to get a kiss on her lips yet.

But once again, he misjudged her.

Flippy put one finger on her lips.

"That's… Okay…"

She stood up straight as she stared at the boy.

"Come on… Flaky want a kiss…"

He shook his head.

"On the mouth?"

She nodded.

"Flaky want Flippy to be her first kissie! She wants one on the mouthy, please!"

He shook his head.

"I… Don't know…"

She dropped her smile, and arched her eyebrows into a sad shape. She had heard that boys who like girls are supposed to kiss them, and she loved him. But now, after he had a bad nightmare, perhaps he has lost interest in her. She had been ridiculed for being ugly by her father before, so maybe she just was not cute enough to Flippy anymore.

She bowed her head.

"You… Don't love me anymore…"

He shook his hands and walked up to her.

"Nonono! Of course I do! I swear I love you."

She raised her head.

"No you don't!"

She turned around.

"If you do… You'd want to kiss me…"

He walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Flaky… I want to kiss you, sure… But not on the mouth… At least, not now…"

She turned around.

"Why not?"

"Well… You do know that… Kisses on the mouth mean more than regular kisses, right?"

She nodded.

"It means love… And Flaky love you… Please… Can I have a kissie? It don't gotta be on my mouthy anymore… I just want a kiss from you… Pretty please?"

He thought a minute, just for a second, then finally did what she wanted. He bent down and gently placed a kiss on her cheek.

She gave a shocked look as he stood straight.

"There… Now you know I love you?"

She smiled greatly, with the biggest smile he had ever seen, and she jumped up and latched onto him. She tightly hugged his neck, and wrapped her legs around his torso, under his armpits. He silently giggled as he hugged her back. She giggled louder, and they were both blushing brightly. She carefully nuzzled her head under his chin, and he smiled greater.

And she felt his head reel back and plant another kiss on her head, making her even happier. He did not even mind that it left several bad tasting flakes on his mouth.

He felt the affection from her giant hug, and felt that she was just as weightless as ever. And she could feel that he did love her after all. He just did not want to move too fast. After all, they had only been boyfriend and girlfriend for one day now.

He carefully put her down, and they exchanged a smile and a loving look at each other. But suddenly, they heard a faint rumbling sound. Something they have both heard from both of their bodies in the past, but it was not as loud or as painful as then.

But it was still a mysterious sound, as Flippy scratched the back of his neck in confusion.

"What was that?"

Flaky, knowing what the sound was, shocked Flippy by lifting the end of her nightgown up to under her neck. Her pale colored belly was in plain sight, and her bright pink underwear was also visible. Flippy blushed at the sight of her so exposed, and he looked away to not embarrass her.

She looked down at her belly, and she spoke very gently.

"Flaky hungry…"

She carefully lowered her nightgown back to its original length, and she smiled at the boy. She put her hands behind her back and tilted her head, making her seem cuter than usual.

"Breakfast, sweetie pie?"

He blushed still, with the image of her body burning in his brain, and he stammered a bit.

"S-s-sure… W-we got s-s-some eggs…"

She jumped in excitement.

"SCRAMBLED EGGIES! YAY!"

She skipped over to the ladder, and quickly climbed down while shouting loudly, waking up the boys downstairs.

"BUBBIES! WAKE UP! IT'S SCRAMBLED EGGY TIME!"

Flippy was still blushing from the sight of her underwear, but he was also ecstatic. Not only did she kiss his forehead, symbolizing her love for him, but she gave him a new pet name. It was a very special thing to him, since it really meant that she cared enough for him that she would call him something so cute and heart lifting.

But he wondered where the name came from as he walked towards the ladder.

"Sweetie pie?"


	8. Chapter 7

A happy little group of children were smiling after their breakfast. Both Cuddles and Handy went inside the barn, while Flaky was helping Flippy clean off their plastic dishes with water from the spigot of the barn, a few sponges and a bottle of dish soap they bought on the previous day. Now they only had enough money for some materials to make beds, which was the next thing on their shopping list; tools, nails, bed covers and plenty of wood.

Flaky was smiling greatly, after a good meal of her favorite food; eggs, scrambled and fluffy, cooked freshly over a hot fire. She patted her belly as Flippy scrubbed the plates under the running water.

"Flaky's got love in her tummy!"

Flippy smiled as he scrubbed the residue off the plates. Flaky was happily shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she hummed softly. He enjoyed seeing her so happy, especially after exchanging kisses with her before. He could still feel a bit of her love on his forehead, and she could feel his on her cheek.

They washed their dishes quickly and put them in one of the empty barrels for their next meal. Flippy went to go tend to his crops, while Flaky went inside the barn and saw her teddy bear, which was sitting against the barn wall, like it was waiting for her.

She picked it up into her arms and gave it a big hug, squeezing her friend with her tiny hearts love and affection from her stay with her friends.

While she was playing with her bear, Handy and Cuddles were looking at how much straw they had to spare, so they would know if they had enough for 4 bed covers.

The orange haired kid looked at the other boy.

"You think we got enough?"

Cuddles nodded.

"I'm sure we do. I'm pretty sure we got enough money for all the things we need."

Handy nodded as well.

"You're gonna need someone to go with you."

Cuddles thought a minute, then looked over his shoulder.

"Flake? You wanna come with me to the city?"

She instantly jerked her head away from her teddy bear, with the bad memories of her past beginning to return to her. She remembered crying everyday, and how scary the city was at night when she looked out her window.

But most of all, she remembered an old monster. That horrible man, with his awful fingers.

She shook her head.

"No! I'm not going back there ever, ever again!"

Cuddles spoke out and walked over to her.

"Okay, okay…"

He patted her head.

"Maybe Flippy'll go with me. You just stay here with Handy, okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay…"

He nodded, and Handy nodded as well as Cuddles walked out the door. She watched as Cuddles walked around the corner, and she heard his voice, as well as Flippys. She was beginning to regret not wanting to go with him.

After all, she could not bear to be away from Flippy.

She looked over to Handy, who was using his hammer to pound in a few nails that were sticking out of the wall. The old barn always had at least one or two nails sticking out, and it was his job to make sure their home was safe and sturdy.

"Handy?"

He turned his head to her.

"Uh huh?"

She bowed her head.

"Are they gonna be okay? You know… In the city?"

Handy nodded.

"Sure they will… They're tough guys… Well, Flippy is anyway…"

She kept her best friend in her head as she felt her heart begin to tighten. Just the thought of something happening to him was eating away at her. Besides, she was worried that he might hurt somebody again, and she could not even begin to imagine seeing him be arrested.

She made a slight gasp as she saw the two boys walk past the door, towards the woods. Flippy had his knapsack over his shoulder, what he was going to carry the stuff in. Or at least, the stuff other than the bed covers.

And she wanted to say something to him before he leaves.

"FLIPPY!"

They both stopped in their tracks as they saw the little redhead running towards them. She had a few tears in her green eyes, showing that she was sad. Flippy looked over to the blonde boy.

"I'll catch up. Go on ahead."

Cuddles nodded as walked further into the woods. Flippy watched him disappear as Flaky ran up to him, still looking sad.

"What's the matter?"

She sniffled a bit, and then almost instantly pushed her body into his, hugging him tightly.

"Be careful… Flaky will miss you…"

He patted her back.

"I will… I'll miss you too."

She nuzzled her head into his chest, just wanting him to stay even though she knew he had to go. He felt her tiny heart beating just a little harder than it should, which must have meant that she was really worried. She was truly terrified of the city, otherwise she would go with him.

But then, she felt his hands on her cheeks, and suddenly she felt his lips quickly kiss her tiny nose, creating a bright line across her face. They had just began kissing, and already she was loving the feeling of his lips touching her skin.

He kept her head raised with his finger as he gazed into her green eyes.

"Be a good girl, okay?"

She hid her blushing face to as he walked into the woods. She instantly grew a large smile as she felt her nose become warm, like he lit a candle under her skin, and its heat was warming her skin. A kiss from him could heal anything, in her opinion.

She thought a bit in her head.

"Flippy kissed my nosey… I… I love kisses!"

She waved at the walking boys as she continued to blush.

"Bye bye, Flippy!"

And she very quickly pressed her palm to her lips, kissed her hand, and blew him a kiss from far away. All she did was hope he could feel it.

* * *

Lucky for the boys, it was way too early in the morning for much traffic to crowd the streets. But those who were out watched as two boys, one blonde and one who dyed his hair green, were walking side by side with the taller boy carrying an overstuffed knapsack, and the other carrying several plastic bags filled with their supplies.

The people saw as the boys looked rather dirty. Their hair was full of hay, with the blonde haired boys hair being rather long and messed up. And those who were close enough to them held their noses in their disgust at their stench.

But that did not stop the boys from looking for a shop to get some wood. But unfortunately, there was not a wood shop in the city, and they were about to give up.

Cuddles spoke as they continued to walk.

"Guess there isn't a wood shop around here… Bummer…"

Flippy shrugged.

"At least we got the bed covers."

He patted his knapsack, as Cuddles spoke.

"But what about wood?"

Flippy looked over at the horizon, seeing all the trees.

"Maybe we should just get an axe and cut a tree down…"

Cuddle looked at him strangely.

"Are you nuts? With our scrawny arms?"

"Well, then what are we gonna do?"

Cuddles had no idea, and neither did Flippy. One of the key essential things they needed, and they had no way of getting it. They just decided to skip it and just sleep on mattresses on the floor; better than the hard wood of the barn, but not too much better.

They started walking towards the area of the outskirts where the woods would lead to the barn. Cuddles showed Flippy the way, since he was the scout and the navigator of the group, knowing how to get home from anywhere.

But then, something caught his eye as he almost crossed the street towards the land that lead to the woods. Sitting on the land, right near the sidewalk, was a wooden doghouse. It was not made of the cheap plastic fake wood either; it looked like real lumber.

Cuddles smiled and pointed at the small house.

"Look! Wood, ripe for the taking!"

He started running towards the house, with Flippy running behind him.

"Cuddles! Wait! Hold on!"

The boy did not listen as he got closer and closer to the doghouse. He finally reached it and put his bags down, then checked the outside for any damages. None, as it looked rather newly bought. He could just feel the softness of his own bed suspended by these long boards.

Flippy caught up to him and spoke.

"Looks empty… Looks like we found some wood…"

Cuddles nodded.

"Yeah. I'll check the inside."

He got on his knees and slowly crawled inside of the doghouse. He felt the nice and smooth wood on his palms as he crawled inside, and he smiled at the thought of how much free wood they were getting.

But then, he discovered that the house was not empty; he was shocked to see a girl inside, curled in a ball on the floor and sleeping. She was a bit dirty, just like him. She was a brunette, and on her head was a white hat that covered most of her head. Warming her body was a white, cotton made turtleneck sweater, and on her waist under the sweater was a bright purple colored skirt. On her feet were brown shoes, looking rather fancy.

And she looked about his age.

Cuddles looked at the girl, and realized she may have been in trouble.

"Oh man… Come on. We'll help ya."

He carefully grabbed her ankles and gently began to pull her out of the house, shocking Flippy as she was dragged outside. They both saw the grey circles around her eyes, and the dirt splotches on her legs, face and hands.

She must have been like them; homeless.

Flippy knelt down and put two fingers on the side of her neck, as Cuddles just looked down.

"She's breathing… She's got a pulse… I think she's just asleep…"

Cuddles spoke.

"You think she's homeless? You know, like us?"

Flippy shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe. If she is, then we found a sister for Flaky."

And while they took her eyes off of her, she opened her own, revealing them to be a bright brown color. She moaned a bit, with the blurry image of two boys the only thing she could see. Her head was throbbing from a massive headache.

They heard her warm voice.

"Ugh… What… Happened?"

They both looked down at her, as Flippy spoke.

"Need some help?"

She blinked a few times, looking at the two boys. And Flippy reached down to her, wanting to help her to her feet. She was about to let him help her, but then she saw something. Something she saw nearly every day. An evil entity that tortures her everyday, standing on top of Flippys shoulder and smiling evilly down at her.

She hated this entity, as she knows it far too well. And when it appeared, chaos ensued. But the problem was that in reality, there was nothing on Flippys shoulder. It was all in her head, yet she did not know the difference.

It was a monster, in the form of an imaginary friend.

Her eyes instantly perked open at the sight of the monster, and she began swatting the air, smacking the two boys repeatedly as she got to her feet. The two held their throbbing faces as they watched her run into the woods, and they both noticed her miserable expression as she hit them.

But they also noticed her hands looked as if she was carrying something, yet her hands were empty.

Flippy looked over to Cuddles.

"What was up with that?"

Cuddles shook his head.

"Guess she was thinking ahead of us."

Flippy shook his head as well.

"Nah… She couldn't know where the barn is, right? Well, whatever."

He bent down and ran his fingers under the floor of the house. He attempted to lift it up, but it was far too heavy for even him. Cuddles got on the other side, trying to lift the house with his friend. But to no avail, as it was far too heavy.

Then Flippy thought of something.

"Wait… How're we gonna make beds out of this?"

Cuddles looked around the corner at Flippy.

"Handy knows a buncha tricks. I'm sure he'll find a way."

Flippy let go of the house.

"Forget it… Even he can't do something so crazy."

He began to walk towards the woods with his knapsack on his back.

"We can probably buy some frames once we get enough money."

Cuddles shook his head and formed his lips in the shape of a pout as he picked up his bags and ran after Flippy. They both entered the woods, heading back home. But both of them had the girl on their minds, the girl that attacked them and then ran off. Somehow, Flippy was able to keep Fliqpy held back. Even he did not know how.

But she did not seem interested in joining them, so perhaps they should just forget about her.

* * *

As the sun began to center in the middle of the sky, symbolizing the approach of the afternoon, Flippy and Cuddles came walking up the plains towards the barn. They both walked through the doors, and found Handy asleep on one of the hay piles. And no Flaky to be seen.

They both dropped their bags as Cuddles spoke.

"JACK!"

The boy snorted slightly as he woke up.

"Huh? Wha-"

He saw the two boys.

"Oh. You're back."

He saw the lack of boards the boys had.

"Where's the wood?"

Flippy shrugged.

"Didn't get it. Couldn't find any."

Cuddles tapped the knapsack with his foot.

"Got the covers, though…"

Handy gave a slight annoyed sigh as he stood up and walked over to the bag. Cuddles unzipped the bag and pulled out rolled up covers for mattresses, four of them, wrapped in plastic. Handy checked them all that they were big enough, and he smiled.

"Nice job, guys…"

Cuddles smiled as well, but Flippy was looking around.

"Flaky? Flaky, where are you?"

Jack shook his head while unwrapping their covers.

"Should'a seen it. She started crying when you left, saying she missed ya. Last time I saw her, she grabbed her bear and walked out the door. No idea where she is. Maybe she's lost."

Flippys eyebrows rose up.

"Oh… Aw man, she really said that? Crap, we gotta find her!"

Cuddles looked outside.

"Oh wait… There she is. She's sitting on the hill."

Sure enough, as he walked out the door, Flippy saw the lonely little redhead sitting by herself on a hill just a minutes walk from him. She looked so miserable, and he could practically see a small little cloud over her head, raining down on her. She was sucking her thumb as well, comforting herself.

She looked so lost without him. Already.

Flippy began walking slowly towards her, just wondering what he was going to say to her to cheer her up. It was obvious to him that she would need a whole lot of care if she was going to snap out of her misery. He began to regret not getting her a present; they had a bit of money leftover, just enough for maybe a new doll. She could have used another toy.

She had her eyes closed as she continued to suck on her thumb. She was not crying anymore, but she felt like she should have been. Flaky just had to be around the boy, every minute of every day. He was her savior, the only person who ever loved her.

He finally caught up to her and patted her shoulder, making her squeal as she slid her thumb out of her mouth. She looked up and saw the boy.

"Hi Flaky. Sorry I-"

"SWEETIE!"

He was confused to instantly see her face brighten. She popped up to her feet and leaped right into the boy, holding on by once again grabbing his neck and wrapping her legs around his body. He was quick to put his arms around her body, but he still kept his confused look as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder, humming softly while she hugged him.

Flippy spoke.

"You uh… You okay?"

She nodded in his shoulder.

"Flaky missed you so very, very much, Flippy!"

He carefully rubbed her back as he put her down.

"Handy said you started cryin' after we left. Thought you'd be… Sadder."

She let her legs go from his body as she looked up at him.

"Flaky was sad. But now Flaky happy again! Flaky's boyfriend is home!"

She gently wrapped her arms around him again and pressed her head against his chest, letting out an affectionate sigh as she hugged him again. Her hugs were so delighting to him, as he felt the kind of love only a little girl with an innocent heart could muster. Both of their faces were red with pleasure as they held each other tighter.

He looked down at her.

"We got some bed stuff. No wood though. Sorry, Flaky."

Instead of a frown, she smiled more. Flippy raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so happy when Handy said you were pretty sad?"

Flaky shook her head.

"Flaky always happy around her boyfriend!"

He shook his own head, brushing off that feeling of her being sad. Either Handy lied, or Flaky was very spontaneous. But it did not matter, as she seemed happy now, and that was enough for Flippy. He gently grabbed her hand and looked down at her.

"Let's go help the boys with the beds."

She nodded.

"Okay! Let's-"

Suddenly, right next to them, she heard the sound of rustling leaves from inside the woods, sounding like running footsteps. She began to shake in fear as she got behind the boy, who heard the rustling as well. He figured it was an animal, but then he remembered the girl he saw, and that she ran into the woods.

Maybe she found them.

He looked over his shoulder at the girl.

"I'm gonna go check out what that was. Wanna come with me?"

She shook more as she looked up.

"Well… I don't know… Can Flippy carry Flaky? Piggyback ride?"

He nodded as he squatted down.

"Sure. Climb on."

She stopped shaking in fear and carefully climbed onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he put his arms in the folds of her legs. She was about to let her legs out of his arms, since she still felt really uncomfortable when she is touched anywhere below her head, other than her back. But she wanted a piggyback ride, and he was just holding her to keep her up on his back. Besides, he would never do anything like what her father did to her. Or at least, she did not think so.

She shook that nasty feeling away as she rested her head on his shoulder. With the little red head on his back, Flippy began to walk into the woods, leaving Cuddles and Handy to stuff the beds with their straw supply.


	9. Chapter 7 (P2)

Breaking sticks under his feet, Flippy walked more and more while carrying Flaky. She looked around the woods, easily having a fun time feeling so weightless. But at the same time, she was scared of whatever the sound came from. Maybe it was a giant bug? The thought of a huge insect created a nauseous feeling in her tummy.

They both looked around, trying to find whatever it was that made the footstep sounds. Flippy kept his eye out for a girl in white, while Flaky kept her guard up for any giant bugs.

Finally giving up, he decided to let her down and catch his breath.

"Whoo… Maybe she's gone…"

Flaky looked at him.

"She?"

Flippy nodded.

"We found a girl out in the city, Pretty sure she's homeless, like us. I think we found you a sister."

Her eyes jolted up as her face instantly beamed.

"A sissy?! Really?! Oh, we gotta find her!"

She began running around, calling out for the girl she never met.

"New sissy? Hello? It's okay, I'm your little sissy now! Flaky wanna meet you!"

She grew a frown from the sound of silence.

But what they did not know was that they were right about the girl; to get away from them, she climbed up into a nearby tree before they came around, and they had yet to look up. She wanted to stay away from them, not because she was shy, but because she did not want to hurt them.

That evil entity has hurt far too many people already. She did not want to hurt these children, especially that little red haired girl.

Flippy looked around as well, just looking for anything white. He remembered seeing the girl looking sick, like she was starving. He remembered how distraught she was the first time she saw them. And he felt her hand on his face from her attack, but he also remembered seeing her expression looking scared.

He only knew one other who looked scared as they attacked innocent people; himself. And that was when he realized, perhaps this girl was just like he was. Lost, afraid, and mentally unstable. Perhaps not quite like him, but feeling the same kind of inner pain.

He walked over to Flaky.

"Ah well… She's gone. Sorry, Flaky."

She gave a slight sigh.

"Aw… But I wanted to meet my new sissy…"

Flippy nodded.

"We'll find a sissy for you someday."

She bowed her head as Flippy patted her back. He began to lead her back the way they came, with her raising her head again and looking around. Maybe seeing a pretty bird would cheer her up. Suddenly, she heard another rustle, and she looked behind her to see a few leaves slowly falling to the ground. Flippy turned around with her, and he saw that she was looking up at a tree.

"Flaky? You okay?"

She saw a white object up on the branches, and it looked rather familiar. She remembered seeing something like the object in a book she read when she was younger; it was a book on farm animals. And she realized what it must have been.

Her eyebrows arched in sorrow as she pointed at the tree.

"Aww… How'd that little wooly bully get up in the tree?"

She walked towards the tree.

"It's gotta miss it's mommy."

Flippy followed her as she let her arms out and spoke very sweetly, but loudly.

"Here, baby sheep. Flaky will catch you."

She gave a slight smile, showing she was kind and gentle. And the girl in the tree was still afraid, seeing both of these kids so close to her. But she still did not want to meet them, so she broke off a small stick from the nearby branch and tossed it down, making Flaky run towards Flippy as it hit the ground.

And they heard her voice.

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

Flaky looked in the tree, naively confused.

"Baby sheep? You can talk?"

Flippy raised a brow.

"I… Don't think that's a sheep, Flaky."

He called out to her.

"Hey! Remember me? I'm one of the kids you met in the city."

She made no sound as she tried to climb higher. He called out.

"We just wanna help you. Come on, come down from there."

She called out again as she continued to climb.

"No! Go awa-"

But then, the two kids were shocked to see the branch beneath her suddenly break, and they heard her scream as she began dangling from one of the thicker branches. They both saw her looking terrified, and they both began to panic.

She called out as she hung on for dear life.

"Ahh! Help! Help me!"

Flippy called out.

"Don't worry! Hang on!"

He began to run back to the barn, leaving Flaky behind. She was shaking in fear as he ran.

"Flippy! Don't go!"

He called back.

"Keep her calm, Flaky! I'll be right back!"

She watched him run away, then looked back up at the dangling girl. She looked a bit older than her, and she was crying tears of fright. Her legs were thrashing back and forth as she continued to hand on, feeling her fingers beginning to slip.

"Help! Please!"

Flaky called out, stuttering from fear.

"I-I-It's alright! F-F-Flippy and Flaky will s-s-save you! He'll b-b-be right back!"

The girl called down.

"Why are you doing this?! What'd I do?"

Flaky waved her arms in the air.

"You're m-m-my new s-s-sissy, baby sheep girl!"

The girl looked down as she tried to keep her grip.

"Quit calling me a sheep! I'm a girl!"

Flaky tilted her head.

"You look like a wooly bully..."

The girl was getting irritated.

"Wait a minute… I'm your new sister? You don't even know me! And I don't know you!

Flaky called out, beginning to calm down.

"My name is Flaky! And you're my new sissy now!

The girl arched her brows, but somehow she was actually beginning to hold on. This little girl, and that older boy, were actually being nice to her. But what made her hold on was this girl calling her 'sissy'. She was an only child, and she herself wanted a sister as well. Maybe being alive, and with her, will not be so bad.

The girl started calming down as her grip tightened.

"I'm… I'm your sister? What do you mean?"

Flaky shouted.

"Just hang on, sissy! When you get down, Flaky and Flippy will take care of you!"

The girl blinked a few times in confusion.

"R-Really? You… Wanna take care of me? But you're a little girl!"

Flaky nodded.

"So are you! Sissy, just hang on a little longer! Flippy will be back, and then we'll save you, and then you can come home! Flaky want you to be her sissy, so she can play with you! We promise you'll like it with us, sissy!"

The girl, believing for the longest time that she would never be loved ever again, thanks to her daily taunts from her imaginary friend, was wanted as being a member of a new family. She thought she was a monster, since she knew she was. But this little girl, and that boy from before, did not see a monster and instead saw a sister in her.

Fortunately, she stayed hanging on the branch long enough for Flippy to come back, running as fast as he could. In his arms was his white blanket, and he planned to use it to catch her.

He unfolded it and handed one end to Flaky.

"Stretch it out and hold it tight!"

She did what she was told as Flippy did the same. Then, she looked up at the girl.

"Okay! We'll catch you in this! Fall down!"

The girl shook her head.

"I don't wanna! I'm scared!"

Flaky looked up.

"You can trust us, baby sheep girl!"

She looked down at the two kids, and looked at the blanket. She did not know if she could trust the boy, as she scared her in the city. But the girl, the one who was calling her a baby sheep, was beginning to grow on her. And now that they were trying to save her, she knew they were good people.

Thus, with her crying eyes shut and keeping plenty of hope in her heart, she carefully let her fingers free from the tree bark, and felt her body start to fall, the pull of gravity making her body fall faster. Both Flippy and Flaky pulled their ends of the blanket wide to catch her as she thrashed about, just praying that she be caught.

Sure enough, her body hit the fabric, and her weight caused both of the other kids to fall down with her. Lucky for her, the blanket broke the fall, and she was still alive.

Flaky grew a huge smile, as Flippy just examined her to make sure she was okay. She opened her eyes, and felt her body for any injuries. Not even a scratch on her.

She looked at the two kids.

"I… I'm still alive?"

And then, they watched as she let out a smile.

"You… You guys saved me!"

She turned to Flaky and got to her feet. Flaky raised her arms to the air, like she was a baby wanting to be picked up, and the girl found it as a signal to give her a congratulatory hug. Flaky giggled a little bit, feeling the hug warm her tiny body.

She smiled more and more.

"Thank you, Flaky!"

She then let the little girl go, and turned to the boy.

"Who are you?"

He nodded.

"Flippy. My name's Flippy. What's your name?"

The girl nodded, now feeling confident enough to tell them her name.

"My name is Bailey. Thanks for saving me, guys! I owe you one."

Flippy, feeling left out, opened his own arms for a hug. He felt he deserved one; after all, he did just run to and from their barn to grab their blanket, and saved her with his friend. Not wanting to upset, she shook her head and walked into his hug. He did not smile, but he did feel warm inside from her hug. And she felt a something a bit different; she felt warm on the inside like him, but also on the outside from his affection. It was a strange feeling, something she had never felt before.

He let go of her as Flaky spoke.

"Now you can come back to the barn with us, and meet our bubbies!"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah. We live with two other kids in a barn, and we want to give homeless kids like us a place to stay. You're homeless, aren't you?"

Bailey nodded.

"Yeah. I am. But what's that got to do with you?"

Flaky smiled more and more as stepped closer to Bailey.

"We want you to be our sissy."

She looked over her shoulder to the little girl.

"You… Really do? Like you said? Or…"

She clutched her head.

"Is my stupid brain playing dirty tricks on me?"

Flippy patted her head.

"We'd take good care of you. We got all we need; food, shelter and now we got some beds."

Flaky spoke.

"Flaky don't like being the only girl there. Please be her sissy, Bailey! Pretty please?"

She looked at the kids being so nice to her, and offering her a home. She had been alone for the longest time, only having that evil imaginary friend of hers to talk to. And the first kids she had seen for ages are now wanting her to be a part of them, like one big family. And she saw something special with Flippy; he seemed like a nice boy, and she could not hide her thoughts about his appearance. To her, he looked rather cute for a boy.

And right before them, feeling so happy that she was being accepted by these kids, finally let out a burst of happy tears as she yelled.

"I… I WANNA BE YOUR SISSY! PLEASE! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

And they both grew happy as well, as Flaky instantly hugged Bailey once again,

"Yay! Flaky and Flippy found a sissy! Flaky so glad she met a baby sheep that is her new sissy!"

Bailey wiped her tears as she chuckled.

"You know that baby sheeps are called lambs right?"

Flaky titled her head.

"Lambs… Lammy! Flaky wanna call you Lammy, sissy!"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah. Flaky gave us all nicknames like that, and I guess they're our real names now. Like that name, Bailey?"

She bowed her head and thought a minute.

"Yeah… I think I do. Okay, I guess I'm Lammy now."

* * *

"Dear… God… Finally done…"

Both Handy and Cuddle were sitting on freshly stuffed mattresses, one on one side of the room and the other on the opposite side, and they were both exhausted. They had no idea stuffing mattresses would be so hard, but Cuddles seemed to have had it worse; he had to carry straw upstairs using their knapsack on his back. Over and over again.

They just wish they had frames, or else they would just be sleeping on the floor.

But their misery was shattered as two kids walked through the doors.

"Hi bubbies! We're back!"

Flippy looked at the new beds.

"Nice work, you guys. Sorry we couldn't help ya."

Cuddles arched his brows.

"Yeah, thanks for the help! What the heck were you guys doing?!"

Flaky smiled.

"We were getting a new sissy!"

Flippy looked behind him to see the girl who walked in with them.

"Boys, meet Lammy."

Lammy waved at the boys.

"Hi!"

They both noticed her, Cuddles growing a smile while Handy looking rather confused. Cuddle remembered seeing the girl in the city, and he was glad that she going to be a part of them, him recalling that she looked kind of miserable out there.

She looked around.

"So this is my new home?"

Flippy nodded.

"That's right. That's Cuddles over there-"

He waved.

"Hey, sis!"

"-and Handy back there."

He waved his only hand at her.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Lammy nodded.

"Hey, guys."

Flippy spoke.

"Good. Now that we got a new member, we'll need some things. Cuddles, how much more money we got left?"

Cuddles shrugged.

"I'd say about $20, since we didn't get any wood."

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah, alright. Lammy, how about later on you go with Cuddles, since he's the scout that goes to the city for stuff, to get yourself something to sleep in. And another bed cover."

He looked at the rest of the straw.

"Oughta be enough for one more bed."

Handy spoke, arching his brows.

"We shouldn't be spending all our money on crap like clothes. You really need clothes to sleep in, Lammy?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. Sleeping in day clothes is gross. Why? You guys don't have money?"

Handy gave a glare to Cuddles, who had revealed he was hiding money from him before. Now the oranged haired boy did not know if there was more or not, and Cuddles was starting to lose reliability.

"Well, Cuddle Bunny? We got more money?"

Cuddles shook his head.

"What we got is all, I swear. I ain't hiding anymore."

Handy shook his own head.

"Well, then how we gonna get those things if we only got $20?"

Lammy smiled.

"With more money."

She reached into her sweater, and all of the other kids were shocked to see her pull out a wallet, overstuffed with green bills. They had never seen so much money in their lives, and Handy was practically drooling in greedy lust.

"See? I got a lot of money on me!"

Cuddles got off of his bed and ran over.

"Lemme see, lemme see!"

He took the wallet and looked inside, at all the bills that were in it. He smiled as wide as he could.

"Holy… We're rich! Now we can buy all we need, and more!"

Lammy winked.

"Yup. Got it all by myself."

Handy was stammering.

"H-H-How… Did… Y-Y-You… Get all… That… Money?"

She nodded.

"I have my own ways; idiots on the streets that think I'm poor. Hahaha… Suckers."

Flippy shook his head in disbelief.

"Wait a minute… You stole all this money?!"

She waved her hands in denial.

"No! No! I beg for it, and usually get a few bills or two from gutters and places like that."

Flippy sighed, relieved he was not harboring a criminal.

"Well… Okay… Come on, everyone. Let's go shopping. Now I think we can get some frames for the beds, finally."

* * *

The now happy and excited group of children walked together back to the city; even Flaky joined them this time, yet she kept her hand clasped on Flippys and kept her thumb in her mouth the whole time. They walked along, side by side, through the streets and into several stores, spending all the money they wanted to on essentials before entertainment.

And after a long day of shopping, they were about ready to head back home. Flippy and Cuddles were both carrying two small bed frames kits, the cheapest they could buy, while Handy only carried one. Lammy carried several plastic bags, filled with her night wardrobe and several items of food for the group. And little Flaky carried nothing.

But as they walking past a toy store, she stopped in her tracks. Lammy noticed her looking in the window and she walked over to the girl.

"Flaky? What's the matter?"

Flaky shoved her face into the glass as she was staring inside.

"Flaky wanna color…"

She was staring at a small sketch pad that was laying on the table in front of the window, and near the pad was a box of crayons. She always wanted to color, since she never got the chance to in her old life, and now she had several ideas on what to draw. In desperation, she squished her little nose up against the glass, just staring at the pad and crayons.

The boys all stopped at the sight of the girls looking in the window. Cuddles spoke.

"Hey! What's wrong?"

They paid no attention as Lammy spoke.

"Think we can buy them. You want those?"

She let her face go from the window.

"Can I have them?! Really?!"

Lammy smiled.

"Sure. Anything… For my sissy."

Flaky smiled greatly as she watched Lammy go inside the store. And suddenly, filled with happiness and love, she began to skip around on the sidewalk, circling the boys as she continued to smile.

She skipped around more and more, her smile becoming greater and greater. And Flippy decided to stop her.

"Why're you smiling like that?"

She shook her head.

"Flaky never had a big family before. Or a sissy. Or a boyfriend."

Lammy walked out of the store, with a new bag filled with Flakys presents inside around her arm. Flaky instantly ran to her and grabbed the bag, then proceeded to give Lammy the biggest hug she had ever given, practically squeezing her new sister to death.

And now, with her new sister, two wonderful brothers, and a fantastic boyfriend, nothing seemed to faze the little girl. She was once a sad and miserable child, wondering every day if she was really cared about. But after meeting just one boy that changed her life and gave her a new family, she was beginning to forget the past. No bad memories were going to cloud her mind anytime soon.

At least, not yet.


	10. Chapter 8

**Three weeks later…**

Three hard working boy, two happy and affectionate girls and one whole family had never lost their smiles or their happy giggling. At first glance, they might seem like normal happy children in the neighborhood, having fun and enjoying each others company. That is, if anybody were to come by, that was what they would see.

Each of the children had their own roles in the family.

The oldest, Flippy, was the farmer of the group. He was in charge of tending to their field of crops and picking vegetables from them to add to their food supply, and picking fruit from their fruit trees.

The second oldest, Cuddles, was the groups scavenger. He was the one who went to the nearby city and gathered their supplies using their money. He usually went every other day, and normally went with Lammy so she could beg for money.

Handy was the groups builder and maintenance. For having only one hand, he was actually very well known in carpentry and building. He pounded nails, built furniture from kits that have been bought, and kept their beds sturdy and filled with straw.

The oldest girl, Lammy, was the money maker of the group. She was the one was usually sat on the sidewalk and did her best job in acting like a poor girl, weakly shaking a cup and begging walking people for money. Sometimes she would even bring her little sister, and both of them combined would usually take in a good amount of money for the group.

And the youngest of the all, the adorable Flaky, was mainly the apprentice of the group, slowly learning how to do everything her brothers and sisters did. And she kept her loving smile all day, every day, while in the presence of her new family.

And on this day, they were all crowded around their newly bought item. Finally, after a month of getting dirty and complaining about their stench and appearance, they managed to get a washtub and a weeks worth of soap. The tub was underneath the spigot located in the wall on one of the sides of the barn, which they used to clean their dishes with. Next to the tub was another barrel, filled with clean, folded towels and on the top was a red hairbrush.

The clear water was filling the metal tub as Flippy spoke.

"We should go by order. Youngest to oldest, maybe. I'm pretty sure Flaky's the youngest."

The little girl smiled, but then Handy spoke out.

"Hey! Maybe she's just short. I think I'm the youngest, since I'm 7 going on 8 in a few weeks."

Flaky spoke.

"I'm only…"

She barely knew how to count, so she folded her fingers into a ball and slowly counted them as she unbent them. When she raised her fourth finger, she raised her hand.

"Four."

Cuddles spoke.

"Well… Okay. I'm 8. Lammy?"

She spoke.

"7."

Flippy nodded.

"And I'm 9. Figured I was the oldest. Okay, then it's settled. Flaky goes first, then Lammy, then Handy, then Cuddles, and I'll go last. Hope we got enough soap."

Flaky grew a huge smile.

"Bathtime for Flaky! Yay!"

And without hesitation, they watched as she sat on her bottom and pulled of her red shoes, then stand on her feet and pull off her shirt. Lammy tried stopping her, but she was too excited, and the boys watched as she dropped her pants.

The boys began to shake and blush as Lammy spoke.

"Uh, Flaky?"

She did not lose her smile as she did the unthinkable; in front of the boys, she pulled down her bright pink underwear, and dove into the full tub. And the boys began shaking and blushing from the sight of her being completely nude, as she rose from the water.

"Yay! Bathtime!"

The boys were muttering strangely, as Lammy spoke.

"You guys okay?"

Flippy spoke, blushing the brightest.

"Y-Y-Yeah… C-C-Come on… B-B-Boys…"

Flaky gave a confused look as she sat in the water, and the boys were all staring at her as they walked around the corner, out of her sight. She turned her head to Lammy, who was giving a worried look to her. She reached down to grab the hairbrush as she continued to stare at the little girl.

"Flaky. You can't just take your clothes off in front of boys."

She tilted her naive head.

"Why not?"

Lammy spoke, embarrassed.

"Uh… Because they're different than us. They… Don't have… You know…"

Flaky raised her eyebrows.

"You mean they don't got gineys?"

Lammy shook her head.

"No."

"Then what do they have?"

The brunette started sweating beads, trying to find the best answer. Flaky saw no harm in getting ready for a bath, even if it means she had to get naked. She was so focused on getting clean, and getting the flakes out of her hair.

But her image burned in the brains of the three boys, who were sitting in the barn, all sweating, blushing and shaking in embarrassment.

Handy spoke.

"Oh… Oh god… They… They were gone…"

Cuddles shook.

"I… I think I'm blind…"

Flippy spoke.

"N-N-None of this e-e-ever happened… O-O-Okay, guys?"

He stood up, staggering to his feet.

"Let's… Let's go get some dinner…"

Cuddles got up as well, and the two boys began walking towards the barn door. But they turned to see that the crippled boy was not joining them, and he was rocking his body back and forth, shaken from the sight of the nude little girl.

Flippy spoke.

"Handy? You coming?"

He still shook in shock.

"It… It was inside out, man…"

The two other boys left the cripple to bask in his own sorrow, as they went to gather some fruits and vegetable for their dinner, both of them try to shake the image of the naked Flaky out of their heads.

Meanwhile, Lammy was carefully brushing Flakys long red hair, with long and slow strokes. Flaky was happily using one of the soap bars on her tiny body, sliding it along her arms and legs and making big circles on her belly.

She was enjoying her bath, and her newly found big sister was having a good time bonding with the little girl. Lammy never admitted it, but every waking moment around her was excellent. She never had a sister either, and she loved having a younger one. She loved being a friend to Flaky, and having her around when she needed care. She showed her care with how gently she brushed the little girls hair.

Lammy spoke as she noticed the soapy water had a snowy covering.

"Well… Guess I found out why you're called Flaky. You made the water all snowy."

Flaky turned her body around, allowing Lammy seeing the streaks of foam along her body, and the giant smile on her face.

The little girl spoke, thinking about the only boy that has ever touched her heart.

"Well, if you wanna know, my real name is Autumn. Autumn last name is Thorne. But when Flippy found me, he called me Flaky, and now my name is Flaky."

Lammy smiled, running the hairbrush down the side of the girls head.

"He sure is a nice boy, isn't he?"

She nodded.

"Yup. And Flaky love Flippy!"

Lammy became confused.

"You… Love him? Well, isn't he your brother?"

She shook her head, still smiling.

"Nope. Cuddle Bunny and Handy are my bubbies. Flippy is my boyfriend!"

The older girl was becoming confused.

"Uh… Boyfriend?"

Flaky nodded, and she dove her head underwater and came back out, once again rinsing her hair so the flakes can get out. She playfully spat the water out of her mouth and smiled.

"I love him so much! He gave me his teddy, and a new home, and two nice bubbies and a really good sissy! And no more mean daddy!"

She splashed the water around as she spun her body around like a washing machine.

"Flippy, Flippy, Flippy! Flaky love Flippy!"

Lammy stopped her to look at face.

"You mean… You're… IN love with him?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh!"

Lammy shook her head.

"Well… He's a nice boy and all, but… Love? Already?"

But she grew a smile, thinking it was just her childish nature that brought on these sudden feelings.

"I don't really get it, but it's cute. You know, for a little girl, you're adorable."

Flaky opened her mouth in a large smile and giggled a cute laugh.

"Flippy thinks so too."

Her cheeks began to glow a bright red at the thought of the green haired boy.

"Flippy… I can't stop thinking about him…"

Lammy watched as she turned back around and began humming and tilting her head side to side, obviously love struck. And the whole time she was humming, Lammy kept a confused look. She had no idea what love meant, or what it felt like. And this little girl knew how it felt, from a boy that was twice her age.

And Lammy was a bit jealous.

"Um… Flaky?"

She turned around.

"Yes, sissy?"

Lammy bowed her head.

"How… How long have you known Flippy?"

Flaky dropped her smile and put a finger on her chin, thinking just how long she had known the boy.

"Hmm… I don't know… A month?"

Lammy nodded.

"And… Well… Have you kissed him yet?"

Flaky shook her head, rather sadly.

"He won't kiss me on the mouth, sissy. And Flaky want to. Flaky want Flippy to be her first kiss."

Lammy wanted to help the little girl, but this was somewhat a strange conversation for them to have. But then again, a big sisters job was to look out for the little sister, and Lammy had to think of something to tell Flaky.

Lammy put her hands on the girls head, so they can stare at each other.

"Maybe he just needs to be… In the moment."

Flaky blinked a few times.

"In… The moment?"

Lammy nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe he needs to be ready. You need to do something really nice for him. Maybe give him a present. Just something nice to show you love him."

Flakys tiny brain was thinking about what to give to Flippy. She thought for sure that she showed him how much she did love him a few weeks ago, when she kissed his forehead, which made him happy and resulted in him kissing her cheek. But maybe she did need to do something more. After all, she figured that he was very miserable, especially since she knew about his family.

And above everything, she knew he needed love. And she thought she was giving him all the love she could give, what with all her hugs and kisses. She always told him she loves him, and he said the same, but the look on his non-smiling face must have meant it was just retaliation. He still barely smiled.

But then, she thought of something. She remembered her coloring supplies that Lammy bought her. Her sketch pad was filled with childish sketches, mostly of flowers and pretty messed up looking animals. But she had completely forgotten to do what she planned to do with the things in the first place.

And now she had a good idea.

She raised her hands out of the tub, and saw her fingers looked like little pink raisins.

"I'm all pruny now. Now it's your turn, Lammy."

Lammy nodded and reached into the barrel and brought out one of the clean towels. Flaky reached her arms in the air, and Lammy wrapped the towel around her tiny body and lifted her out of the tub, which was hard to do since the girl was a bit heavy for her weak arms. But Flaky was quick to wrap her arms around Lammys neck, hugging her tightly as she carried Flaky over to the barrel.

She put the girl down and reached into the barrel, then brought out her bright pink underwear, which they had yet to clean. But Flaky did not care, as she grabbed her underwear and was quick to step into the two holes and pull them up her legs and up to her crotch. Lammy also pulled out her nightgown, and Flaky was happy to raise it over her head and pull it down, covering her body once again.

They exchanged a smile as Flaky spoke.

"I'm gonna go color now. You can take your bath now, sissy!"

She pushed herself into Lammy and hugged her tightly, and the little girl quickly skipped off to the front of the barn and ran for the ladder. Handy had finally snapped out of his insanity and joined the other boys in eating their dinner of fruits and vegetables, as well a few candy bars they had bought in the city.

But they all instantly began staring and blushing at the little girl as she ran inside the barn. She stopped before she climbed the ladder, and she gave a slight childish wave with a friendly smile, as she quickly climbed up the ladder.

And she ran over to her bed, which was built on the day they bought their bed frames. She looked underneath the bed, and found her sketch pad. She smiled as she ran over to the Flippys knapsack, where she kept her crayons in. She unzipped the blue bag and reached inside, bringing out the pack of wax coloring utensils.

She laid down on her bed, with the bed in front of her, and then by the light of the moon shining down from the hole in the barns wall, she began drawing with the crayons, something she thought would make the boy she loved happy.

* * *

More than an hour later, after they all took turns bathing, Flippy suddenly became sad, and the other two watched as he bowed his head and slowly walked outside. Cuddles saw that he looked rather sad, while Handy paid no attention and only dug his teeth into a tomato.

He had something on his mind all night. Not Flakys body, or even Flaky herself. He had someone completely different on his mind. Someone who he had not thought about in literally months. Someone he had so many feelings for, and wished was alive with him again.

He began to think about his mother. And he had no idea why.

He sat down on the hill a ways away from the barn, and he looked up at the sky as he spoke silently.

"Mom… I hope you can hear me… I miss you. A whole lot. I still remember… seeing you die. I hated seeing you die, Mom. And… I hope your looking down on us right now."

He bowed his head, yet he never shed a tear. He had never cried in some time, ever since the night he became a monster. And his mind began to recall the event once again, as he saw the bloodshed, heard the screams, smelled the gore. It began to become intoxicating, but he struggled and strained to keep Fliqpy in his head. He had no intention to reveal his secret to his family.

But it was so hard not to think of his mother. She was the one parent that ever cared for him, and never stopped. Even on her deathbed, she begged him never to change who he was. But what exactly was he, he kept wondering? To Flaky, though, he felt important. To his brothers, he just felt as a friend. And he had no idea what Lammy thought about him.

He stood up, looking at the sky.

"I love you… And I hope you still love me…"

He kept his eyes on the clouds.

"And… Big brother… Big sissy… I won't leave them… I'm gonna spend the rest of my life, right here. Next to them all… And I'm… Gonna… I'm gonna ask her…"

But then, he heard something behind him; the sound of soft footsteps that stopped right behind him. He turned around, and there she was. There stood the little girl that fell in love with him. She was standing so still, with a caring look on her face, a bright red line across her cheeks, her hair flowing in the blowing wind, and a single sheet of paper folded in her hand.

He looked at her closely.

"Hi Flaky."

She smiled and handed him the paper. He raised his eyebrows.

"You… Drew me a picture?"

She nodded, and he carefully took the paper and sat back down on the ground. She did make a sound, only waiting for him to open the paper. And finally, he unfolded the paper, seeing what was on the page. His jaw dropped as heart began to warm as well as his face, which was turning red. And she could just tell by the look on his face that he liked it.

On the paper was a scribbly portrait of a green stick figure, and a red stick figure half its height with long red hair, and they were both holding hands. And they were in the center of a large pink heart, surrounded by smaller red hearts.

And underneath the heart, in scribbly black writing, was her heartfelt statement.

 _Flaky Love Flippy_

And he kept looking back at the girl, and then at the drawing. He felt so much heart into the colors, and so much thought into the words. She poured her entire soul into every line and curve of the art, and it showed with how proud she was. She had the biggest smile she has ever given on her face, as she saw Flippy looking so happy.

He finally looked at her, and gave a warm smile, and she could see just a few tears in his eyes. And he got up on one knee and he gently pulled her into an affectionate hug, with her hugging back gently as well. And Flippys heart has never felt happier, nor has he felt so much love from someone he was not related to.

He stood up while still hugging her, so he lifted her off her feet. He pulled her up to that he can hug her while holding her against his collarbone, and she kept her arms around his neck as well. She lowered her head onto his shoulder, and she let out a long and heavy sigh, happy that he likes her drawing.

He whispered silently.

"I… Love you too… Flaky… Thank you so much…"

She spoke.

"You're welcome, sweetie pie…"

He carefully lowered her down to her feet, and he took her hands into his own.

"I… I love it. You… Really did this for me?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh… Flaky wanted to."

He smiled greater.

"Well… I'm happy. I'm… So happy I met you, Flaky…"

He bowed his head, and finally whispered to her.

"Can… I ask you something?"

She tilted her head.

"What?"

He finally lost his smile, and right before her, while still holding one of her hands, he slowly got down on one of his knees, still blushing as well. He was finally going to ask her something so important, and so hard to ask, a child would not even dream of asking it.

But she was worth it.

"Flaky… I can't really… Give you much else… Than I already have. I mean, I'm not an angel. I'm not a hero. But… I am a boy. And… Well… I'm happy with just being a boy… With a good home, and good family… But you… I want to be something more… Even more than a boyfriend… And… So…"

He bowed his head, and he held his heart with one hand, with the other still holding hers.

"Do you… Do you wanna get married?"

Her eyes widened as he kept staring at her with his eyes filled with emotion. And she spoke silently.

"What?"

He bowed his head again.

"Do… You… Wanna marry me?"

She tilted her head.

"Marry? You mean like hubbie and wife?"

He nodded.

"Yeah… You wanna?"

Her head was filled with confusion, but her heart was filled with the same kind of love any woman would feel after being asked to be engaged. But at such a young age, her being only 4 and him twice her age, it would only take the power of true love to ask so quickly. She could feel it in his sincere expression, and the warmth in his palm on hers.

She grew a smile.

"Okay!"

He smiled as well.

"Really?"

She nodded quickly.

"Flaky wanna be a wifey!"

They both giggled as she jumped up into his body, once again latching herself to his body by wrapping her legs around his torso. He smiled and planted a small kiss on her head, making her snap her eyes open and smile again. She loved getting pecks on her head; it was like he was planting a happy seed into her brain.

She unwrapped her legs and stood back onto the ground, and she quickly clasped her hands onto his once again, seeing him still smiling and having red cheeks.

He spoke.

"Wanna go to bed now?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Flaky kinda sleepy."

He offered to carry her to bed, and she raised her arms up for him to carry her. He gently grabbed her by the underside of her arms, and he hoisted her up again onto his chest, with her body from the ribs up pressing onto his shoulder.

And however many times he picked her up, Flippy just could not find anything to complain about holding her like a baby. She barely weighed anything to him, and he loved making her feel so warm and comfortable. And that was exactly how she felt. Warm and comfortable every time he held her.

And now that they were engaged, he could hold her all the time. And she never had to be sad and scared ever again; she had a husband.

She was already practically asleep as he carried her into the barn. They all watched as she looked so very happy being carried. The boys were on their beds while Lammy was enjoying one of the carrots they had just picked. Lammy was in her newly bought nightwear, a bright white long sleeve, made of cotton of course, with several red ladybugs plastered all along it, and dark purple fuzzy pajama pants.

Flippy put her down so she can climb the ladder. She climbed up first, and Flippy turned his head to his family, still smiling just a bit.

"Night, guys. Hey, big plans just came up. Me and Flaky are getting married."

They all dropped their jaws as he started climbing the ladder, as Cuddles looked at his siblings with a very confused look.

"Uh… Did he just say married?"

They both nodded as Lammy bowed her head.

"Guess he was in the moment…"

Handy turned to her.

"Huh?"

She shook her head.

"I'll tell ya in the morning. Night."

Lammys bed was on the top floor, joining Flippy and Flakys bed as well. Feeling a bit drowsy, she decided to go bed herself. Of course, she hated to sleep, afraid of nightmares like any other child at night. But hers were justified, as she had a dark secret; her imaginary friend, which lived in her mind, and was free to roam and torture in mid slumber.

She climbed to the top, through the hole in the floor that allows the climber to either enter or exit, and stood on the floor above the actual ground. She saw her empty bed, which was pressed up against the wall to her left. Lammy walked over and climbed into her bed, letting her legs dig under the covers, but her back still sat up as she watched her two siblings.

Flippy walked the little red head over to her own bed, which was placed with the head against the back wall, below the hole where they saw the sun. She climbed up onto the mattress, filled with straw, and instantly dug her head into her newly bought pillow. Flippy smiled and carefully pulled her soft blanket over her body.

Looking already asleep, Flippy walked over to his knapsack and unzipped the bag. He reached inside and brought out his old teddy bear, and he walked it over to her, who had one eye open as well as her arms. He chuckled as he handed her the bear, and she closed her arms on the stuffed animal and let out a long, warm sigh.

Flippy bent down and planted one small kiss on her forehead, making her smile and open her eyes again. She spoke silently.

"Night night, hubbie…"

He nodded.

"Goodnight… honey…"

She quietly giggled as she shuffled her body to a comfortable position. Flippy walked slowly over to his bed, which was on the wall opposite of Lammys, same position as well. And the whole time, Lammy felt a bit jealous of the boys behavior towards the little girl. How affectionate and loving he was to her, like she was a the love of his life.

But what confused her the most was their actual relationship, and their future according to him.

While still sitting up, and right when Flippy was passing her bed, she spoke to him.

"So wait…"

He turned his head to her.

"You two are getting married… For real?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. That's right."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You're… You're serious…"

He nodded again.

"Yeah. I love her, and she loves me. Why not get married?"

Lammy just could not understand.

"But… But why-"

She went silent at the sound of his violent 'shush'.

"Quiet. She's trying to sleep."

He pointed to Flaky, who had not made a sound yet, then pointed to Lammy.

"You should to."

She nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah…"

He nodded as well and slowly walked to his own bed. And she could not help but feel left out, without a goodnight kiss. She loved getting goodnight kisses from her parents, and they usually ridded her of nightmares. But ever since one fateful day, all of her dreams were horrible, and she just wished for something to ease her mental pain.

As he sat down on his mattress, she spoke again.

"Flippy?"

He looked at her.

"Yeah?"

She was about to speak, but then shook her head.

"Nothin'."

He tilted his head.

"What is it?"

She finally took a deep breath, and carefully spoke again.

"I… I was just wondering… If I could get a kiss too.."

His eyes went every which way in awkwardness.

"Uh…"

She shook her head again, this time shaking her hand in disagreement as well. And she pulled her white hat off of her head and threw it underneath her bed, revealing the crown of her long auburn hair.

"Forget it. Whatever. Goodnight."

She huffed in anger and threw her blanket over her body, then forcefully slammed her head into her pillow. Flippy could just feel the loneliness radiating from her presence underneath the covers, and could almost hear her silent crying. He knew the magic of goodnight kisses all too well, when he received one on his forehead every night from his big sister.

He remembered every single emotion from that one single peck on the center of his head; love, comfort, safety and the deliverance of a good dream inside of his mind. And he could tell that she needed that just as much as he, and the little girl he loved, needed.

So, with a comforting look, but still no smile, he slowly got off of his bed and walked to the other side of the room to her bed. Lammy was lying on her side, facing the wall, and just a bit of her forehead was visible past her bangs. When he reached her bed, he carefully ran his finger across her head and ran her hair back, then slowly bent down.

And she snapped her eyes open when she felt a slight kiss on her head.

She turned over, seeing him smiling and looking down at her.

"Night Lammy."

He walked back over to his bed, with her staring at him the whole time. And underneath her covers, her cheeks were beginning to turn a slight red from his affection. And she gave a slight smile and carefully closed her eyes, the last thing she saw being him crawling under the covers of his own bed.

And inside her mind, as it was beginning to sleep, she felt warm and happy. She felt running and skipping through a field of daisies, with a beating sunshine giving warmth to her. And she kept giggling, happy as can be. She could feel the soft petals of the flowers brushing against her ankles and toes, and the feeling of the cool breeze mixing with the heat of the giant orange star behind her.

It was a good dream, finally.

But suddenly, she dropped her smile once again at the sound of a familiar voice, one that has haunted her dreams for months.

 _ **"Nope. You ain't having a good dream while I'm still around. No little punk's gonna stop me either."**_

And suddenly, she saw as the sun began to turn a dark red color, and the once orange sky beginning to turn black. The flowers around her were starting to wither and die, and the wind began flowing more and more fiercely.

And suddenly, arriving in a big flash in front of her, was the bane of her existence. The evil imaginary friend she created out of shame. Her evil conscience, the force behind her being lost and hungry for so long. The real monster.

And he was barely even a foot tall.

His skin was an ugly shade of dark green. His hair, as well as the handlebar mustache below the two holes resembling his nostrils, were colored pitch black. His eyes were a horrifying cyber lime color, and he had no eyelids to cover them. And his attire was even more treacherous; a black tuxedo and a black top hat to cover his evil nature with the appearance of a gentleman.

This was her worst enemy, and for the longest time, her only friend.

She shuddered his name in fright, as he began to evilly chuckle.

"Mr. Pickles…"


	11. Chapter 9

**(Sooo sorry for the long hiatus. Just... I lost a good friend, and a computer. But now I'm back, and I shall treat you all for being so patient with this new chapter! Enjoy and please review if you can! (Oh, and forgive the long length. Writer's withdrawal got the best of me... Heh heh...)**

"Heh heh… How's it going, Bailey?"

All the brunette could do was stare at the tiny little demon and stand completely still. Mr. Pickles was her evil imaginary friend, the real cause of all her misery. And it did not matter how tall he was or how ridiculous he looked; she was scared to death of the miniscule monster.

She stuttered quickly.

"M-M-Mr. Pickles… W-W-What are you doing here?"

He chuckled as he walked slowly towards her.

"Ain't it obvious?"

He bent his knees and jumped up high, then spun around and landed on her shoulder. She shuddered in fear as he sat on her collarbone; seeing him so up close was making her physically sick to her stomach.

He spoke directly into her ear.

"I'm here to cause trouble for you. You know it's in my nature."

She never looked at him.

"Mr. Pickles… Please… Go away…"

He shook his head.

"Not until I talk to you."

He reached his arm around her and clasped a strand of her hair, pulling it tight so she paid attention to him.

"So… Who are the new brats?"

She tried looking away, only for Mr. Pickles to have her look straight forward by pulling hard on her hair. And in front of her, the memories of her with her new friends began to flash before her, from the childish arguments she had with Cuddles and Handy, to when she helped bathe Flaky, to the kiss she felt from Flippy before she drifted to sleep.

And now she began to worry.

"Mr. Pickles… Please don't hurt them…"

He chuckled.

"Or what? What are you gonna do about it?"

She began to sniffle from her being so worried for their safety.

"Please… They're my new family… They're special now…"

He shook his head again as he slid off her shoulder and back onto the floor. He kept his eye on her visions. And he laughed in his throat at just the sight of four new victims.

"Seem like a bunch of meat puppets to me. Besides, you don't need any friends. You got me."

She shook her head and arched her brows.

"Shut up! You ain't my friend! They are. Cuddles and Handy are my new big brothers. Flaky's my new little sister."

Her eyes began to sparkle as she started to remember the only child remaining. Ever since the day he saved her from falling to death, she had trusted Flippy. There was just something she felt inside her heart for him that was different than what she felt for the other boys. A kind of affection she did not know how to explain.

But her words were explanatory enough.

"And… Flippy… Flippy's special…"

He arched his brows in confusion.

"Hang on… Are you telling that you… Like that freak?"

She looked away in embarrassment as he saw her face beginning to turn red.

"Heh… Heh heh…"  
He grew a smile and held his gut as he began to laugh heartily.

"Ha ha ha! Oh… This is too rich! You like him?! Come on, get serious!"

She held her hands in shyness as she raised her head to look at the visions again. They were only filled with the image of the green haired boy who cared for them all. She remembered seeing him doing so many things with her and for her. He occasionally allowed her to buy things she wanted with their scarce money supply. He showed her how to farm. And when she needed one, he was always willing to give her an affectionate hug.

She loved his hugs.

"But… He's nice… He's cute… And… He's warm…"

Mr. Pickles walked over to her.

"Aww… How adorable."

He was standing at her foot as she looked down, and he gave an innocent look.

"But… There's just one thing about him you should know first, honey."

She tilted her head.

"What?"

He brought up his finger and bent it towards him, signaling her to come closer. So she squatted down and turned her ear towards him. He gently grabbed her ear lobe and brought his mouth to her ear canal.

And his sympathetic look turned into an evil smile as he shouted loudly.

"He'd never go for some ugly looking schizo like you, Bailey! Never in a million years! You're a freak! A monster!"

His words rang in her eardrums and echoed into her brain. Her enemys horrible words haunted her every time he appeared before her, and that name he always give her was beginning to scar her. It was insulting, hurtful, and truthful at the same time.

She quickly jolted her head up as he laughed more and more, pointing at her and taunting her.

"You're a freak! Freak, freak, freak!"

She held the sides of her head as she began to cry.

"No! Leave me alone! Get away!"

She never admitted it before, but there was a horrible reason why she was alone before she met the kids; her parents were found murdered in her home, both stabbed to death. It was believed to be the workings of an unknown assassin. But what the authorities did not know that there was one person in the building at the time.

And it was her. Lammy, the girl who believed it was the monster she created one day, was the one who held the bloody knife.

And it all started on one day, when something terrible happened in her school. The sights of those shadowy men. The sounds of the popping guns. The smell of blood and gunpowder. They all have been burned into her brain since the day it occurred.

The echoing sound of a laughing Mr. Pickles rang in her ears as she quickly snapped her eyes open in real life. She sat up in her bed and panted hard, feeling the cold wind of the night blow against her face. It made her shiver as the wind felt cold on her freshly dampened forehead and her legs from the pool of sweat underneath her as well.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks as she looked across the room, and could barely see Flippy asleep in his own bed. His head was right next to a small hole in the wood, probably made from rot, which had a clear view of the front of the barn and the woods leading from it.

Lammy wanted to go and wake him up to get a hug from him, as she needed the comfort of just someone who was warmer than her blanket. But just as she was about to heave her legs over the side of the bed, she heard faint footsteps coming straight towards her. And she squinted her eyes to see through the darkness, and she could just barely make out a little redhead walking towards Flippys bed.

She shook her head and carefully dug back under the covers, hoping Mr. Pickles will not come back to haunt her again, and also hoping that Flaky was okay.

But the little girl was less than okay. It seems Lammy was not the only having a nightmare. A horrible memory was traumatizing the little girl, and she just wanted to be awake again to not see it again in her dreams. But she still felt a bit drowsy at the same time.

Perhaps her husband will understand and let her stay awake.

She reached his bed and saw that he turned over on his side. She sniffled a bit, then placed her hands on his legs and shook him gently. She heard his quiet moaning as he shuffled himself over onto his back.

He opened his eyes and looked forward, and saw the darling little girl standing at the foot of his bed, the slight illumination of her white nightgown being the only thing he could see plainly.

"Flaky?"

He sat up as she brushed her hand forward.

"Scooch over…"

He shrugged.

"Why?"

And that was when he noticed something. The little girl was crying, and her body was shaking almost fiercely. She looked like she saw a ghost.

She was indeed upset and scared. She needed him.

He raised his bottom and hopped over to his side, and he patted the empty space in his bed. She wasted no time in crawling under the end of the blanket and quickly scrambling up the length of the bed to the head. Flippy laid his body down on the left side while Flaky positioned herself on the right side of the bed.

He nodded as he closed his eyes to go back to sleep, but then he suddenly felt his arm be lifted, and he suddenly warmer. And he snapped his eyes open to see that her arm was draped over his torso. His cheeks began to brighten as he also felt her head on chest, and she was on her side with her entire body pressed into his side.

And his right arm was freely draped on the space where she was supposed to be.

He felt sorrow for her, as he felt her shivering a bit.

"Are… you okay?"

She sniffled a bit.

"Scary dream…"

He shook his head.

"Oh. Now I get it. Sorry."

She nuzzled her head deeper into his chest.

"I… I dreamed of him… My… My d-"

But before she could finish, she instantly felt better as she felt his arm suddenly wrap around her shoulder and his hand clasp her upper arm. And his other arm suddenly came over her body, and he placed his palm onto the crown of her skull. And she felt him suddenly begin to rake her hair with his fingers, up and down the length of the long red locks.

He quietly whispered.

"Shh… Don't even think about him…"

She suddenly stopped shivering as he spoke again.

"He's dead. You're never gonna see him again. And I won't let anyone do stuff like that to you ever again."

He removed his hand from her head as she looked up.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Uh huh. And… I'm never gonna leave this place. I'm gonna stay here forever. With you."

And she looked deep into his eyes, and she could see the truth in his expression. He was determined to keep her happy and safe, even if it meant not having a guardian. To them, he was going to be their guardian. Their friend when they needed one.

And to her, he was going to be her loving husband. She could tell with how affectionate to her and how willing he was to suddenly start to snuggle with her that his feelings about her were deep and pure. She could feel it in his comfort.

Flaky let one last tear fall from her eye, the last of her worries and of her fears, and she grew a relieved smile. And seeing her smile made him want to smile as well, just knowing that she was happy once again.

And with the hand of the arm that was draped over his torso, she gently clasped his cheek.

"Flippy…"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah?"

Her comforting smile almost brightened up the room, as she remembered Lammys advice about moving too fast. She was about to move in for their first kiss, but she quickly shook off those feelings and just spoke silently.

"Flaky… Love you… I love you so much…"

He smiled and pulled her closer to him, with her digging her head deeper into his chest, and bringing her free arm up to her face so she could suck the thumb of its hand. He heard her silent suckling as he once again began to drift off to sleep.

But not before he muttered one last thing to the little girl.

"I love you more, Flaky…"

 **The Next Day**

"Hmm hmm hmm… Flaky loves to color!"

With the grey sky above them filled with dark colored clouds, Flaky was enjoying her time drawing her cute little doodles on her sketch pad. She was filling every page now with her family, mostly of a green stick figure and a small red one.

She was sitting on her behind with her pad balanced on her crossed legs, while Lammy was laying on her tummy beside her, using the crayons on a newly bought sketch pad. Just because she was older than the boy, that did not mean she could not enjoy drawing either.

And while the girls were coloring, Cuddles was returning from the city with supplies for a cookout. Flippy had promised them a campfire in the future, and he could already taste the freshly made s'mores and finely cooked wiener dogs.

He walked through the barn doors, seeing Handy reading a childrens book on his bed. He put the bags down and walked over to the boy.

"Hey, Jack. Check out what I found in the city today."

Handy put the book down and Cuddles suddenly reached inside his shirt. And he slowly pulled out a small, rolled up piece of brown paper, looking ragged and dirty. Handy raised an eyebrow and sat up from his bed, curious on what was on the paper.

Cuddles raised the paper and slowly unrolled it. And Handy was blown away by what was on it; a shadowy face of what looked like a demon. It looked like a child, but with ugly yellow eyes and sharpened triangular teeth. And written below it were the words of the governments target.

PHILLIP MASTERSON

THE DEMON CHILD

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

Cuddles scratched his chin.

"Man. That guy looks freaky, don't he?"  
Handy arched his brows.

"Look a little closer. Doesn't he look familiar?"

Cuddles looked closer at the photo.

"Uh…"

Handy nudged him.

"Are you blind or are you that stupid? It looks like Flippy!"

Cuddles gasped and looked at the poster again and again. And he did see a slight resemblance between this scary looking kid and the older kid he had come to know. But somehow, he looked past the teeth and the eyes, and he saw a reflection of a brown haired Flippy looking back at him.

And he was going through denial.

"No… No way… Flippy would never kill anyone… He couldn't have!"

Handy sighed.

"Focus, Cuddle Bunny. Same face, he had brown hair when he got here, he barely goes in the city, and why else would he want hair dye unless he was trying to cover up something?"

Cuddles shook his head.

"N-No… No… You know him, Jack. He's a good guy."

Handy grabbed the paper and shoved it in his overall pocket.

"Maybe, but a killer's a killer. I say we wait until he's cornered before we ask him."

Cuddles nodded.

"Well… I don't know… Maybe we should corner him ourselves."

Handy smiled screamingly.

"Yeah. Later tonight. Let's keep this a secret from the girls, though."

Cuddles kept a sad look, thinking about all the fun times he has had with Flippy. He really did seem like a nice kid, and a perfect role model for the rest of the kids. And if it was not for him, both he and Handy may be sleeping on the floor and starving even now.

But he still nodded in approval as Handy shot a glare outside at Flippy, who was bringing in a bundle of dry wood for a fire.

"Hmm… There. All done!"

Flaky turned her sketch pad over to Lammy, and on it was a drawing of five stick figures. One was tall and green, one was tiny and red, one was orange with a yellow hat, one was yellow with long yellow hair, and one was purple with a triangle near the top of the legs to appear as a skirt.

"See? I drew us!"

Lammy smiled and nodded.

"Mm hmm!"

Flaky giggled and looked over to her sisters pad.

"What are you drawing, sissy?"

But Lammy quickly put her hands on the pad and shook her head.

"No! I… No…"

Flaky tilted her head.

"What's the matter, sissy?"

And suddenly, Flaky saw as the girl raised her eye brows and quickly reached out in front of Flaky. She barely touched the girl, but the red head still rolled onto her back, stunned. She saw as Lammy looked like she was holding something in her hands in front of her, and she suddenly ran away, leaving Flaky alone with her sketch pad.

Lammy left behind her own sketch pad, and Flaky saw what her sister had drawn. It was the upper body and head of Mr. Pickles, looking almost exactly like the real demon. Same dark green skin, same black hair and moustache, same evil smile, no eyelids, and his ugly colored eyes were staring right at Flaky.

She shuddered a bit and turned the pad over.

"Sissy draws good…"

Later, as the evening began to emerge and the sun was almost completely set, Flaky was getting worried about her big sister. She was up on the top floor ever since she last saw her, and Flaky thought she was sick. Or maybe she just needed help.

So, she went to the only person who could probably help.

Flippy was back in his dark green shirt and brown shorts as he was poking at a freshly doused fire with a stick.

"Flippy?"

He looked to his side.

"Hey, Flaky."

Flaky walked up to him.

"Can you go talk to sissy for Flaky, please?"

He tilted his head.

"Why? She upset?"

Flaky quickly nodded her head.

"Flaky found a scary drawing she made."

She went over to a lone barrel near the fire, and brought out her sketch pad, then opened it up and saw Lammys drawing. She shuddered again and handed it to Flippy.

"See? Spooky green fancy man…"

Flippy took the pad in his hands and saw the drawing. And somehow, he should have been more affected by such a young child drawing such a scary looking man. But instead of being scared, for some reason, he felt a bit of relief. For months, he had thought he was alone with being a lost child suffering with a monster. But maybe this drawing proved that she was also in pain.

But what he knew for sure was that she was in trouble.

Flippy looked over to her.

"Yeah. I'll go talk to her."

He stood up while putting the sketch pad back in the barrel.

"Get in your nighty, okay? Almost bed time. And you'd better hurry. Looks like it's about to rain."

She nodded.

"Okay, Flippy. Flaky don't like rain."

Now with a mission on his mind, Flippy walked inside the barn, seeing Cuddles laying on his bed nearly asleep, and Handy sitting on the end drinking water from his water bottle. Flippy got to the ladder and looked over to his brothers.

He spoke to Handy.

"Hey. Do me a favor and shut the door when Flaky comes in. Storms a'brewing."

Handy nodded.

"Yeah yeah."  
Flippy nodded as well and started climbing the ladder. And when he was out of sight, Handy looked at a nervous Cuddles.

"We'll wait until he gets back down here. Then we'll bust him."

As Flippy climbed the ladder, he heard something heartbreaking. He heard the sound of Lammy, crying and moaning in her sleep. Once again, her mind was being infected by the horrible disease known as a nightmare, and this one seemed worse than the other.

When he got to the top, he stood still as Lammy was seen tossing and turning on her bed, clasping her head painfully. And he saw her face was wet with so many tears, as well as seeing she had a sweaty forehead.

What he did not know was inside her mind, her nightmare was only filled with memories and Mr. Pickles. She saw the evil men come through the doors of her school, and she felt the fear in every room they went in. She saw them fire their loaded handguns at the innocent people and children.

And she remembered how traumatized it left her. She stayed up for nights, just fearing that those shadowy men will come to her house, they would kill her too. But she also remembered not being helped at all, not even from her parents. They knew she was affected, especially knowing that the school was attacked, but their work schedule let them too busy to care.

So Bailey was alone with her nightmares.

She just wanted a friend to talk to. A boy maybe. Not just any boy, but a fancy rich looking one. She always dreamed of being rich. And her favorite color at the time was dark green.

And she remembered one night, when her prayers for company were answered by the appearance of a certain little man.

He appeared on her bed in a big flash.

"Hi!"

She sat up from under her covers at the sight of him.

"Who… Who are you?"

He bowed before her.

"I'm Mr. Pickles. You created me."

She tilted her head.

"I… I did? Are you my new imaginary friend?"

He nodded.

"That's right. I'm your friend 'til the end!"

She grew a smile.

"Really?! Yay! Okay, you wanna play?"

His smile grew bigger.

"Yeah. I got a game we can play. Follow me."

He jumped off her bed, and she naively followed him down the stairs of her house, and into their kitchen. He was able to hop up onto the granite countertop and pull open the top the cabinet. She watched as he dug through the drawer, looking for something in particular.

And she gasped as he suddenly pulled out a giant knife, one that looked like a sword.

She blinked a few times.

"A… Knife? What, are we gonna cook something?"

He shook his head.

"Nah. I got a better idea. Hold this for me, would you?"

He started walking towards her, and he handed her the knife. She slowly took it into her tiny hands and she watched as he began walking towards the stairs again. She had no choice but to follow him, as he was the only person who was talking to her in what seemed like an eternity.

They both carefully climbed the stairs and poked their heads through a certain door, revealing two lumps on the big master bed. One was thicker than the other, and it was snoring like a big brown bear.

He whispered to her.

"See those two?"

She nodded and whispered as well, softly not to disturb her parents.

"That's my mommy and daddy. Why?"

He looked up to her.

"Wanna see something funny?"

She tilted her head.

"Uh… Like what?"

He jumped up and took the knife from her hand.

"Like making them pay for making you cry."

She tried stopping him as he walked in the room.

"Wait! Pay? Mr. Pickles, come back here! Don't wake them up!"

But it was too late. She watched as he climbed up on the bed, ran up the length of the thicker lump, and clutched the sharp blade in his tiny hand. And he quickly plunged the knife deep in the mans neck, making him instantly waken and start to gag and gasp for air.

And Bailey watched everything from afar. At least, she thought so.

The gagging of the man woke the mother as well, who screamed and gasped as the knife went into her chest, again and again. And she screamed more and more.

"Bailey! Bailey!"

And after several stabs and several quarts of lost blood staining the bed, the two were dead, and Mr. Pickles stood tall on the lumps. And he stared right into Baileys eyes.

"Ha ha ha! See? Told you it'd be funny!"

She shuddered in fear at the sight of the two empty shells resembling her mother and father.

"You… You killed them… They're dead…"

Her eyes began to water as he jumped off the bed and started to walk towards her.

"You mean… You did."

She gasped.

"What?"

And that was when she noticed something she did not before. She noticed she was standing at the side of their bed, and her purple shirt was splattered with blood. And she felt something in her hand, and with a clear view, she could see that the knife was in her grasp, and her entire hand was colored in the crimson water.

And she could not believe it.

"Wha… What? No!"

Mr. Pickles pointed at her.

"Murderer!"

She threw the knife away.

"No! No, I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I didn't..."

And her eyes could not have left more tears as she ran out the door and down the stairs.

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

And as she ran, she found her house suddenly beginning to fade, and she felt the pain of empty silence and the cold feeling of someone watching her. She did not know, but following her as she ran was the image of Mr. Pickles. And he was staring directly at her, with an evil expression, and his voice was louder and deeper. And it sound more distorted.

"Stupid little girl. Don't you get that you're a freak? A monster? You're always causing trouble, and I love watching you suffer for it. It makes me happy to see you squirm with fear and guilt."

She finally stopped running, and she knelt down and covered her mouth to soften her bawling.

"I… I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Pickles… I know you're the real killer…"

He chuckled in his deep voice and shouted.

"You say you aren't afraid of me, but I live in your mind. And your mind is the one place you cannot escape. I'll always be here to torture you in your head, and there's nothing you can do about it. You're stuck with me… Forever."

And suddenly, his image was getting closer and closer to her as she started crying harder and harder, clasping her head and hearing his evil laughter. Her nightmare was getting worse and worse.

And the entire time, Flippy watched as she looked like she was being tortured. He could hear her screams, and feel it on her expression.

"No! Get away! Leave me alone! Stop it! No! Monster! Evil! Help! Somebody!"

He had heard enough, as he walked over to her bed and carefully shook her awake.

"Lammy? You okay?"

And feeling herself be shaken made her wake up, and she saw his dark green hair.

"Flippy? Is… That you?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. It's me. Bad dream?"

She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah… Very bad… Listen… Can we talk, please?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

He carefully sat down on her bed, and she threw her legs over the side and sat on the edge. She wiped her sweaty forehead and looked deep into his emerald eyes. And he saw that her hazel colored eyes were red with bloodshot veins.

She bowed her head as he spoke.

"What'd you want to talk about?"

She raised her head again.

"Why are you so nice to me all the time?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"You're my friend. Why wouldn't I?"

She looked away.

"Well… I don't deserve any friends… I haven't had any friends in a long time. Except… For him.."

He tilted his head.

"Who?"

She looked at him sadly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He shrugged again.

"I can try."

She made no sound as he remembered her drawing.

"Is it that green guy in your coloring book?"

She gasped and looked at him.

"You saw it?"

He nodded.

"Flaky showed me. Who is he?"

She looked at him again, and saw that he was serious about wanting to help her. And something deep inside her wanted to tell him about her monster, but the fear of rejection was stopping her from acting quicker. But it was unhealthy to bottle emotions up inside of her, and he seemed to be the most understanding.

As the sound of thunder rattled the barn, she finally spoke softly.

"His name's Mr. Pickles. He's a monster that lives in my head. And… I hate him. I hate him so freaking much. He hurts people. Kills people. And… I always get blamed for it."

And he saw that she was starting to cry again as she spoke.

"But… It's my fault. I'm the one doing the killing. I hold the knife, but he does the stabbing… Flippy… I… I killed my parents… I killed them… And… I'm so sorry… I'm sorry…"

She held her head as she was starting to feel the pain again.

"I didn't mean it… I…"

"Lammy. It's okay."

She opened her eyes to see a comforting look and his arms were wide open.

"Here. You want a hug?"

And her heart could not believe how sympathetic he was, or how unaffected he was after hearing she was a murderer. Nobody else knew about her secret, and she was so afraid that she would have to leave after Flippy heard of her past. But her fears were abolished, somehow, by his sudden understanding.

With a bit of hesitation, she slowly shuffled over to him and leaned into his body, wrapping her arms around his torso while he did the same to her. His warmth began to burn away the bad feelings and her tears were slowly drying the longer she stayed in his embrace.

"Feel better, Lammy?"

She nodded.

"Y-Y-Yeah… I think so… Thanks…"

He nodded as well and let her go.

"Good. Listen to me, Lammy."

He cleared his throat quickly, and she gave him his full attention.

"I told Flaky this last night, so now I'll tell you. I'm not going back to live in the city ever again. I'm gonna stay here for the rest of my life. See, I used to have it pretty rough. I don't have my parents either. And I never used to eat very much."

He bowed his head, and decided to tell her a secret of his own.

"Only Flaky knows why… See, I'm just like you, Lammy."

She raised her eyebrows.

"R-Really?"

He nodded.

"There's a monster in my head too. His name's Fliqpy, and he comes out all the time. Always causes trouble for me. And I usually get blamed for him too. But that's why I'm so nice to you. I know how you feel, and well… You and the rest of the group are like my family, now. You're my new little sister. And… I'm not gonna leave you behind, Lammy."

And he carefully placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I promise. I'll never leave you. I'll always be your friend, forever."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, as her cheeks began to glow once again.

"You… Really mean that?"

And right before her, he let out a slight smile.

"Yes. I'm here for you… Sis."

Feeling his comfort on her shoulder and the care in his expression was making her woozy. She could see that he was seriously not caring that she was a murderer, and instead only cared about her being happy and safe. And with these newfound emotions in her, her heart was set on proving on how grateful she was to him for being there for her. And she paid no attention to the fact that her little sister felt just the same as her.

She was too caught up in his care to even think about Flaky.

Her face was completely red and flustered as she spoke softly.

"Flippy… There's something I have to tell you… I just… Don't know how to say it…"

He dropped his smile and removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Well, then just say it. You can tell me anything, Lammy."

And she stared deep into his emerald eyes, and he saw hers were beginning to sparkle. Her heart was beating rapidly, and his was just normally steady. She slowly bowed her head for a second, gathering all the courage she had in her, and she raised her sight to him once again.

After a slight pause, she finally spoke.

"I love you…"

And his expression of neutrality never changed after hearing her say those enchanting three words. Of course, it took him by surprise, but he thought for sure that she meant it in a friendly way of showing gratitude, like that of a fan of a celebrity.

Or perhaps, she felt the same for him as he did for her.

And with that, he smiled again and spoke.

"I love you too, sissy."

He got up from the bed while Lammy stayed sitting down.

"Now come on. Let's get you to bed. Want me to tuck you in?"

She tilted her head.

"Flippy, didn't you hear what I said?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, You said you love me, and I love you too. You're my new little sister."

She shook her head as she stood up.

"But… That's not what I mean… I… I love you.. As…"

He dropped his smile and looked at her with a confused look.

"You… You don't mean…"

She got closer to him, with him keeping a confused look.

And little do they know, a sleepy little red head was happily climbing the ladder to head off to sleep. Her mind was filled with the hope of seeing her sister happy again, and the dream of sleeping in the same bed with Flippy again. She did not admit it, but sleeping with Flippy was the best moment of her young life. She had done it before, but not like that before. Not her snuggling close to him, and him actually holding her back. And they both told each other that they loved one another, which made the moment even more special.

Her heart fluttered as she reached the top of the ladder.

But her eyes instead caught the sight of Lammy gently holding Flippys cheeks and pressing her lips against his, and him closing his eyes with her doing the same. It was only for a split second, but it seemed like time had stopped for both him and the little girl.

And she stayed there, motionless at the top of the ladder, as Lammy broke away from Flippy and left him in a daze.

"That's what I mean by love…"

He blinked a few times.

"Lammy… I…"

And the single word of a heartbroken little girl struck their ears.

"No…"

They both jerked their heads to the ladder, and saw that she was climbing back down.

"I HATE YOU BOTH!"

And hearing those words made them both suddenly feel guilty and broken inside. They shared a glance as Flippy ran for the ladder after her, but not before looking at her again. And she saw his shamed expression as he turned around and started to climb down the ladder, hearing the sound of a crying little girl below him.

Flaky was completely breaking down, as her tears just would not stop falling out of her bright green eyes. And holding her tightly was her blonde haired brother, who was confused on what was actually happening. The only one actually mad was Handy, who was so close to letting loose on Flippy for both the fact that he could be wanted, and now for cheating on Flippy.

She sniffled out her words to them both.

"She kissed him… And he didn't back away or nothing… He liked it…"

Cuddles was at a loss of words.

"I… Can't believe it… He said last night you guys were getting married… How could be he just change his feelings so fast?"

"I didn't…"

Finally reaching the floor, Flippy looked so broken as well. And coming behind him was Lammy, who looked ashamed.

But his expression did not faze the orange haired boy, who instantly got up close and grabbed Flippy by his shirt collar.

"What the heck, man?! How could you cheat on Flaky?"

Flippy kept his eye on Flaky.

"But… I didn't… Lammy kissed me… Flaky, you don't… Really think I'd ever love another girl, do you?"

She kept her eyes closed and shouted.

"Go away, Flippy! Leave me alone!"

Cuddles shot him a nasty glare.

"You big jerk! She's just a little girl!"

Handy tightened his grip.

"And you do this to her? I know you were bad news! Ever since I found out about you being a murderer!"

Lammy suddenly gasped, and Flippy paid no attention to the boy and just kept his eyes on the crying little red haired girl. He could feel just how upset she was, as it matched just how bad he felt. Especially since she was not speaking in her adorable third person anymore.

Handy shook Flippy fiercely.

"You're Phillip Masterson, aren't you?! You're the Demon Child!"

Cuddles spoke.

"Admit it, Flippy!"

Flippy still only paid attention to Flaky.

"Flaky… I… I'm…"

Her sadness suddenly turned to anger, and she got up onto her feet and stomped as hard as she could. Her voice suddenly became loud and serious, and her eyes could not have been more watery. But what stung were her words.

"GO AWAY NOW, PHILLIP! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LYING, CHEATING, NO GOOD BOY! JUST LIKE MY DADDY! I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN, FLIPPY! GO NOW!"

His heart was beginning to hurt as he spoke again.

"But... But I…"

She practically screamed, what was possible the worst thing ever said to him in his entire life.

"I HATE YOU!"

And he widened his eyes and dropped his jaw, much like Lammy and Cuddles, who could not believe that this little girl would say something so heart wrenching. Handy made no expression as he pointed outside, signaling him to leave.

And now, his heart was shattered.

His expression suddenly dropped to a depressing frown, and he bowed his head and began walking towards the door. And they all heard the fast pounding rain drops on the roof, but he did not care. He was not welcome here anymore.

And now, he was alone. Again.

Handy shouted as Flippy raised the bar on the door.

"Yeah, you just get outta here, killer!

But then, Cuddles spoke.

"Wait, wait! Wait a minute!"

Flippy stopped before he could open the door. Cuddles got up off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

He never looked at them.

"Away. Like she wants me to. She hates me, and so do you guys. What do you care where I go?"

Cuddles gained a sympathetic expression as Handy was sticking to his pride.

"Yeah, who needs ya? You're nothing but trouble anyway!"

Lammy spoke to the boy.

"Handy, shut up!"

Cuddles spoke as Flippy still looked at the door.

"I'm sure Flaky doesn't really want you to go."

He turned to her.

"Right, Flaky?"

But instead of getting a shake of the head or disapproval, all the little girl did was turn her body around towards the back and crossed her arms. She really did not want any part of Flippy, or his cheating and killing way of life, anymore. She did not even have a lick of love for him anymore, as she thought he did not for her.

And seeing the red head so stubborn made both Cuddles and Lammy extremely sorrowful and mourning of the previous days, were they were both obsessed with each other, and could not stand to be away from one another.

But now, all those good times are nothing but memories.

With his back turned to them, Flippy spoke again.

"I don't care anymore. If you guys wanna know, I'm going back to the city to get shot. I'll make someone else happy."

Handy raised his eyebrow.

"Wait… What?"

Flippy bowed his head.

"You're right, Jack. My name is Phillip Masterson, and people call me the Demon Child. And if someone kills me, they'll get really rich. But I don't care if I die. I lost… The only people I care about… And you all hate me now…"

He slowly opened the door, seeing the night sky and the stormy dark atmosphere.

"I don't wanna live anymore, anyway…"

And with that, they all watched as he slowly walked into the storm, instantly becoming drenched in the cold rain. The sound of thunder blasted against his eardrums, and the crack of lightning lighted his way.

And all four kids watched as he walked further and further towards the woods. Neither of them had the desire to go after him, especially Handy. But Cuddles felt a knotting pain in his stomach from guilt, and Lammys heart was burning.

But suddenly, all three of them watched as Flaky suddenly turned around and headed for the door. She stopped right where the door lead outside, and she watched as Flippy suddenly stopped. Somehow, he knew of her presence without even looking. Perhaps because he could smell her sadness, or taste her tears, or hear her sniffling.

But instead of going back to her, he simply spoke loud enough for her to hear through the storm.

"Just so you know…"

He slowly turned his head to her.

"I still love you, Flaky…"

And she instantly began to regret her words as he started to walk again. Her eyes became welled up with more and more tears, as her shattered heart was beginning to hurt once again. And the only thing she could feel was shame for what she said.

After all, this little boy gave her a new life, by getting rid of the most horrible man in her old life.

Stopping just at the edge of the forest, Flippy took one last glance at the barn, seeing all four of the children inside, and he bowed his head and walked into the forest. And finally, after such a long time, losing his only friends was enough to make a tear fall from his eye.

And as he disappeared, the children all went their separate ways into the barn. Handy scoffed and plopped down into his bed, and Cuddles bowed his head in shame. Flaky cried not, and instead climbed up the ladder, with Lammy following her.

And as the two girls reached the top, Flaky turned around at the other girl, and stared at her long and hard. Lammy could just see all the raw, emotional pain on her expression, and could feel it when Flaky suddenly burst into tears and ran to Flippys bed. She raised the blanket and crawled inside of it, then pushed her face into his pillow and sobbed louder and louder.

And all Lammy could do was sit on her bed and think about what she had done. She had completely forgot about Flaky and her feelings towards the green haired boy, and instead only focused on her emotions. And she felt the guilt of breaking the two apart begin to weigh down on her shoulders.

And her misery was all thanks to Mr. Pickles.

Feeling overwhelmed with shame, she bowed her head and instead just listened to the combination of rain in the room. Natures water drops on the roof, and the tears falling out of her sisters eyes as she cried more and more.

And in the middle of her sobbing, Lammy could make out Flakys tearful words as she turned her head to the small hole in the wall to see the woods. It was the most heartbreaking thing the brunette girl had ever heard.

"I'm a bad girl…"


	12. Chapter 10

**In The Morning…**

The morning sun was hiding behind a river of seemingly endless grey clouds, not bearing any light on the lone barn out in the middle of the grasslands. And the atmosphere was matching the tone of the interior as well. Four children were sitting inside, feeling as heavy and as menacing as the clouds, and as cold as the air.

The blonde haired boy was standing behind the barn, his eyes surrounded by grey circles. He barely slept the night before, only thinking about his brother. And he was staring at the crop field, now barren. And he regrettably never learned to farm from Phillip. A shame, since it could have been a good bonding experience for the two.

The orange haired boy walked towards the apple trees, feeling proud of that fact that he saved his family. Almost as if he did not care about his friend. But the minute he was underneath the tree, and he could see the apples ripe for the picking, he looked at how high they were. He shuddered a bit from his acrophobia, but remembered he still had his pride. And so, he simply scoffed and started walking back to the barn, still not thinking about Flippy.

And the brunette girl was just waking up. She, unlike her blonde brother, actually managed to get some sleep. Even she did not know how, her mind so evil and her heart so troubled. It was because of her that the children were all like this; her curious judgment and feelings towards the boy once called Flippy had caused her to kiss him. And she knew that another girl, the little red head, had given her heart to the same boy, which made the situation worse.

Lammy sat up in her bed, hearing the sound of the wind beating against the wall. She threw her legs over the side and stood up, then looked underneath her bed and found her day clothes. She pulled them out and proceeded to pull off her white long sleeve and drop her purple pants. Now bare, only wearing her blue panties, she threw her purple dress over her head and let it drape over her body, then did the same with her white cotton sweater.

And after she was clothed, she looked across the room.

Lying on the other side, in the bed opposite of hers, was a little girl. Her red hair was laying flat on the pillow, and her body was turned towards the wall. Her eyes were only focused outside of the barn, towards the woods, which she could see from the tiny hole in the wall. And Bailey could not see her face, which was even more pathetic; her bright green eyes were now covered in literally hundreds of tiny red squiggles, her eyebrows were bowed in sadness, and her mouth was covered by the blanket. Only the top part of her head down to her nose was free from the wool.

But what Lammy did not know was that the little girl did not even bother to sleep. Her tiny mind was only focused on the boy that was gone, and her heart was burning in pain from his departure. Neither the pain of her tired eyes, or the rumble of her empty tummy was enough to overpower the burn of her aching heart. She did not even desire to sleep, or to eat, or even to cry anymore.

She was far too broken to even care about her health.

After all, she told the very same boy that she loved that she hated him, after believing he had been playing with her emotions ever since she met him. But in reality, her feelings remained the same for him; even now, when she could not even see him anymore, she was still madly in love with the boy.

But her inactivity had caught the attention of her older sister, the brunette standing across the room and draping her white hat over her skullcap.

Lammy wanted to go and talk to the little girl, but she believed that she was the last person Flaky wanted to talk to at the moment. She remembered seeing how destroyed inside she appeared when she crawled into Flippys bed, and she remembered the little girls heartbreaking words.

Bailey heaved a sigh and walked towards the ladder, and turned to step down onto the metal rung. She gave one last glance at the depressed little girl and slowly climbed down the ladder, feeling the cold metal on her bare feet.

* * *

There was barely any sounds coming from the barn at all; the children were all too lost without their precious big brother. For even after discovering that he is a monster, neither of them, not even Handy, could forget all the good he has done for them. It was Phillip who gave them food from a seemingly endless supply from nature. It was Phillip that introduced them to each other, and formed this family.

Flippy was the one that saved them. And they tossed him aside like garbage, which was what they felt like; pure trash.

Handy was outside resting against the wall outside. Cuddles took a bite out of a carrot from their scarce food supply as he walked outside. And Lammy was sitting against the wall near the ladder in the barn, hearing if Flaky would make a sound. She had yet to hear anything.

Cuddles walked around the corner, reaching the stem of the carrot. And he gained an angry look as his eyes caught the one handed boy. His eyes of flame were dead centered on the orange haired boy, looking asleep, like he did not have a care about the fact that he doomed the group.

He stomped over and shouted in the boys face.

"Well, I hope you're happy…"

Handy snorted awake.

"Huh?"

Cuddles growled.

"This is all your fault, Jack! You and your big mouth!"

Handy arched his brows.

"What are you talking about?"

Cuddles got closer, practically pushing his nose with Handys.

"You big jerk! Why'd you have to go and kick Flippy out of here?! Did you forget what we were like before we met him?!"

Handy pushed him back.

"You should be thanking me! He could've killed us!"

"He'd never hurt us!"

"Get real, Cuddle Bu-"

And suddenly, in a fit of rage, the blonde haired boy suddenly grabbed the other boy and proceeded to drag him to the ground, and the two began throwing punch after punch at each other. One was fueled by rage, and one was filled with pride.

Cuddles was truly saddened for how he treated Flippy, especially for what he had done for them. And he could not believe that Handy did not feel the same; he was instead glad that Flippy was gone. Like Flippy had never helped him in his life.

But suddenly, Cuddles felt his body be pulled off of Handy by another set of hands behind him.

The blonde haired boy thrashed about as he felt his body be held by Lammy, who heard them fighting and finally came outside to end it. Handy held his head as he saw the rage in Cuddles' eyes, and the remorse in Lammys.

Lammy spoke, struggling to keep Cuddles steady.

"Calm down! That's enough!"

Cuddles continued to thrash about.

"Let me go, Lammy! Let me kill him!"

Handy got to his feet and gloated.

"Come on, Cuddle Bunny! Just try and kill me!"

Lammy shouted.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!"

She let Cuddles go, both him and Handy obeying, out of fear. They both sat down on the ground, with Lammy doing the same thing. And now, they were all together, and they could begin to reminisce about their actions.

Lammy spoke.

"Look… I know you're both sad about this… So am I."

Cuddles nodded.

"Yeah."

Handy scoffed.

"Right…"

Lammy looked at the grumpy boy.

"Handy… You're seriously not a little sad?"

Handy shook his head.

"I'm glad he's gone. Never liked him anyway."

They both gained angry looks as Cuddles spoke.

"Quit lying!"

Lammy spoke again.

"You don't really think that."

Handy crossed his arms.

"He never did anything for me. Ever."

Cuddles spoke again.

"Really think about it, Jack. There's got to be one good memory you have with Flippy."

Jack scoffed once again and turned his head away from them, both becoming annoyed of his ignorance and stubbornness. Neither of them could take the fact that Handy was keeping the fact that Flippy has killed before cloud the good things he has done for the group.

There had to be at least one good memory.

Coincidentally, the wind began to blow fiercely, making both Lammy and Cuddles' hair start to flow in the breeze. And Handy grabbed his yellow cap to keep it from blowing off his head. His trademark cap was his most prized possession, as it was given to him by his father. It kept it on his head to hide his abhorred hair color.

And now, a good memory was starting to return to Handy.

* * *

"Come on, you little…"

Handy was busy searching high and low for something he had lost. His denim overalls were dirty and his bright orange hair was scuffled and messed up. And no yellow hat was on his head, which meant trouble for him.

Flippy, who was tending to the crops while seeing the one armed boy searching, suddenly stopped.

"Hey. What are you looking for?"

Handy stopped and looked at the taller boy.

"My hat, stupid!"

Handy needed that hat to cover his orange hair, or else he might face the wrath of bullies. He was always called a 'ginger' for his appearance, and he would hate for his new friends to behave the same way.

Finally, after searching for what seemed like ever, Handy finally looked up in the apple tree based off its weirdly shaped shadow, and sure enough, there it was. His hat was blowing softly while it was hanging on one of the branches.

He gave and angry grunt.

"Crap…"

But then, he heard a voice behind him.

"Found your hat."

He turned his head to see Flippy looking up in the tree as well.

"Yeah. God, this is so unfair!"

He stomped his foot.

"I can't reach it with my stupid no-hand."

He felt so angry as he knew he had to wait for the hat to fall down until he could get it back. He was not much of a runner either, so even if it fell, he would not be able to catch it. And he figured nobody would help him, either, since he was always such a jerk. But he proved to both Flippy and Flaky when he first met them that it was in his nature to be assertive.

Years of neglect and emotional pain was what caused his distrust in humanity.

But now, seeing Flippy suddenly begin climbing the tree, his faith was beginning to return. Flippy climbed up the bark quickly, and then balanced himself on the thick branch on the top. He shuffled across the branch, towards the tip, and finally lowered himself to hang on by his fingers.

Luckily, this tree was not very tall.

He shimmied across the branch to the tip, grabbed Handys hat and carefully dropped down to the ground, feeling a painful shock shoot up his back from the impact. But he shook off the pain and walked over to the boy, who was standing amazed by his noble action.

Flippy nodded and carefully placed Handys hat back on his head, positioning it so the brim was facing backwards a small tuft of orange was seen.

Handy, feeling grateful, whispered.

"Uh… Thanks, Flippy."

Flippy nodded.

"Sure."

He began to walk back to his crops, but the stopped when he heard Handy speak.

"Wait a minute."

He turned around.

"Yeah?"

Handy mustered up some courage, and then spoke again.

"Why'd you do that? Don't you hate me?"

Flippy shook his head.

"No. You're my brother, remember?"

Handy bowed his head.

"But… I'm a little jackass… Remember? Besides… I'm a ginger… Everyone hates gingers…"

Flippy felt a bit of sorrow for the boy, as it was clear that he was hurting pretty badly from the bullying and the taunting. He walked over to Handy and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"You ain't a ginger. You ain't a jackass, neither. You're a good kid."

He patted his shoulder again and walked towards the barn, leaving Handy alone to delve in his thoughts. Nobody but Cuddles has ever treated him so kindly, even if he was not the best person back to him. Somehow, Flippy was getting under Handys skin.

Handy let out a slight smile and began walking back to the barn.

And back in reality, Jack was starting to understand why his siblings were so upset about the loss of their older brother. He felt as if Flippy was the only person who never called him a ginger, or even a jerk. Yes, he called him a 'little jackass', but Jack deserved that after what he did to Flaky.

Flippy truly did think of Handy as his brother.

And now, the shoe was on the other foot.

"What… What have I done?"

Both Lammy and Cuddles looked at him confused, as Jack bowed his head.

"What have I done? I… I'm a… Little jackass..."

Cuddles spoke.

"Bought time you saw that."

Lammy patted him.

"Hey!"

Cuddles shrugged his shoulders.

"What? He is!"

He pointed at Jack.

"It his fault Flippy left! I mean, you never even gave him a chance, Handy!"

Cuddles got up to his feet, and suddenly dropped his voice to sound like the other boy. He started reenacting the previous night, just for emphasis.

"Yeah, who needs ya? You're nothing but trouble anyway!"

Jack looked up, with Cuddles pointing at him.

"You were just scared, weren't you Handy? That's why we're alone again. 'Cause you were a coward, just like always are."

Handy arched his brows.

"No… No, we're not like this 'cause of me. Flippy's gone…"

He then got up and pointed at Lammy.

"Because of you! You just had to kiss him! Oh, he's just SO sexy, you just had to get some of that boy!"

Lammy arched her brows.

"It's not like that!"

Handy then looked at Cuddles.

"And you! If you didn't find that stupid wanted poster, this would've never happened in the first place!"

Cuddles growled again.

"Hey!"

And suddenly, all three kids started arguing about Flippy once again. No fighting, just bickering. And it was like all of them had declared war on each other, as if Phillip was so important that he could make families, and he could break them as well.

Each of them tried proving their innocence with context clues; Cuddles started the conflict, Lammy caused the heartbreak, and Handy created the tension. Neither of them were innocent, and yet none of them were guilty either.

It was all the fault of fate.

Suddenly, Lammy shouted.

"ALRIGHT!"

They all stopped as she spoke again.

"Look… We all did this… Together… And now, we have to fix this. if we don't… What's gonna happen to us? What's gonna happen to Flippy?"

And then, she looked up at the wall, seeing the hole in the wood at the top.

"What gonna happen to Flaky?"

And now all of them became sad, them just realizing that Flaky had not been seen all morning. Cuddles looked at the wall as well, and Handy did the same. They already lost their big brother; they had no intention to lose their little sister as well.

Lammy started walking inside.

"I'm gonna go see her."

Suddenly, Cuddles shouted.

"Hang on! Wait a minute!"

He ran up to her, with her revealing her eyes beginning to water.

"What?"  
Cuddles took a deep breath.

"Look… I'm sorry for all of this."

Jack walked up to them.

"Yeah. Me too."

Cuddles spoke again.

"And… We need to do something."

Lammy nodded.

"Yeah. We can't just brush this off. We… We need Flippy…"

Jack nodded.

"Yeah. I… I guess we do."

Cuddles nodded.

"Let's just put this behind us, okay? Be a family again?"

Lammy thought a minute about what the boy said, and realized that what he said was true. Through all the hardships over the past month, these children had all bonded like a family. Cuddles and Handy treated each other like bickering brothers, and they all treated Lammy like she was their sister.

But what bonded them the most, even if they did not admit it, was Flippy.

His care, his open heart and his affection had led each of them to meet each other. And the best thing they could remember was they all had met a little girl that proved the most caring and lovable. Autumn had won each of their hearts with her adorable nature and innocent mind. She was truly thought as their little sister, what she always wanted to be.

But now, they could lose her as well if they were not careful.

Lammy smiled.

"Yeah. We… We are a family…"

They all shared a smile as Lammy finally walked into the barn. She kept her words, about the group being so close, yet so easily separable by a tragic event, as she reached the ladder. But then she dropped her smile as she thought about the little girl on the upper floor.

For as much as she cared about Flippy, she knew that Flaky cared about the boy even more. Yet she did not know why, other than when Flaky told her what he had done for her. The little girl did not go into detail about her past, which must have had something to do with her feelings for the boy.

There must have been a reason for her love for the boy.

Lammy slowly climbed up the ladder, higher and higher towards the upper floor. And once her head reached the top, she could see that the girl had not moved; she was still lying on her side in Flippys bed, looking out the hole in the wall.

Lammy bowed her brows and climbed up onto the floor, then carefully spoke.

"Flaky? How long are you gonna be in bed?"

There was silence. And Lammy started walking towards the bed.

"I know you're still made at me… But I'm sorry…"

She finally reached the bed, and Flaky had yet to move. But Lammy could see the blanket rising up and down, signaling that the girl was still alive. Physically, yes, but mentally, she was broken.

Lammy looked down at the little girl.

"Come on, Flaky. Talk to me. I'm sorry. Really."

And the whole time, Flaky did not even dare to share a glance at the other girl. She was far too ashamed to show her face to her big sister. For now, even when Lammy was to blame, she felt so horrible and guilty. She kept everything that happened the previous night, every word and every action, burned in her brain. And the images and sounds would not leave her, no matter how much she wanted to forget them.

But worst of all, she replayed what she said to the boy, over and over again.

 _I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN, FLIPPY! GO NOW! I HATE YOU!_

She never felt so low before, especially after hearing what he said to her afterwards.

 _Just so you know, I still love you, Flaky…_

And the dreaded shame began to weigh down upon her, creating a heavy ball in her gut and a burning sensation in her shattered heart. It was almost like a small, imaginary cloud was formed above her, and it was pouring down upon her little head. That boy truly did not mind if she had no feelings for him any longer; his heart still belonged to her.

And that was why she was in so much pain.

Lammy carefully sat down on the bed, as Flaky finally moved. All she did, though, was turn her body around so she could lie on her belly. But her head was still facing the wall. And Lammy spoke softly to the little girl.

"Flaky… Please… I can't tell you how bad I feel. I'm sorry for kissing Flippy. I forgot that you loved him too. It's just… He and I have something in common. And well… I got carried away. But I never meant to hurt anybody…"

Wanting her to go away, Flaky reached down and pulled the remainder of the blanket of her head. Now there was no sight of her, which made Lammy even sadder. And now, trying her best to comfort her, she started to gently rub the little girls back, letting her know that everything was going to be alright.

"Come on, Flaky, don't be like that. Look, I get that you miss him, but you can't just do nothing. You'll be okay. You still have me, and your brothers. We're still here. But…"

Lammy bowed her head.

"It's not the same without Flippy, is it? He's pretty special, isn't he? So what if he's done some bad things before. He's still good. At least, I think so. You think so too, right?"

And while she was talking, all Flaky could do was think about what she said to Flippy, and to the very same girl. She felt like she was evil. She felt heartless. She felt like a monster. And that was when she understood her harsh past.

And she now understood the motivation of her evil father.

Suddenly, Flaky finally spoke. And it was the same as the last thing she had said.

"I'm a bad girl…"

Lammy shook her head in shock from her sister finally talking.

"Huh? What did you say?"

And at that, Flaky finally turned around onto her back and pulled the blanket down, and now she was staring at the ceiling. And Lammy could see that her eyes were starting to cry once again. She could see from the look on her face that the girl was in deep, emotional pain. But worst of all, she was guilty.

Why, Lammy did not know.

But Flaky spoke silently as she sobbed.

"It's… All my fault… I told him to go… I said I never wanted to see him again… I said… I hate him… And… I said… I hate you…"

Lammy felt sorry for her as she continued.

"But… I don't… I don't hate you… Or Flippy… I said a mean thing… I'm… A bad girl, Lammy… My… My daddy was right…"

Suddenly, she started weeping louder and louder at the feeling of her father running his evil hands up her legs and suddenly rubbing her private. She remembered how dirty she felt the first time it happened, and how sick she felt when it happened over and over again.

And she felt that she deserved it.

"I… I made him go… I lost… My sissy… And the best boy in the whole wide world… He's… He's gonna get shot… He's gonna die… And it's all my fault…"

She pulled the blanket over her eyes as she sobbed louder.

"I… I'm sorry… I'm so so sorry…"

Lammy, trying to hold back tears, bent down and started rubbing the girls head.

"Flaky, please don't cry. It's gonna be okay. I'm not mad at you. Look, can you come out of there?"

There was silence, other than Flakys sniffling.

"Well, then can I come under there?"

Flaky sniffled once more, and then spoke.

"Oh… Okay, Lammy…"

Lammy nodded, with her expression sorrowful for the little girl. She kneeled down on the side of the bed and crawled under the blanket, and turned her body so she was looking right into Flakys eyes. Now Lammy was truly trying to be a comforting big sister, like she was not the previous night.

She spoke.

"Hi, Flaky…"

Flaky spoke back.

"Hi…"

Lammy draped her arm over and started petting the little girls hair as she spoke.

"Look, I know you're sad. I am too. But… I don't get it. Why do you love him so much?"

Flaky looked down in thought, and then spoke with her heart once again.

"He saved me from my daddy… My daddy hit me a lot… And touched my giney a whole lot… And Flippy is so nice. He's smart too… And he… Never called me a boy… That's why…"

Lammy bowed her brows again from the thought of Flaky being molested, but then spoke again.

"But… Aren't you scared of him? Didn't you know he was a killer?"

Flaky nodded, still with a sad look.

"He isn't scary… He loves me… He told me still loves me…"

She looked at her sister so mournfully.

"I… I miss him…"

Lammy nodded.

"I miss him too, but we can't just lay in bed and do nothing. Listen, let's get out of bed, okay?"

Flaky thought a minute, and then nodded.

"Okay, Lammy."

Finally, the two little girls finally got out of bed, though while Lammy got off the bed, Flaky just sat up, out of the blanket. She still felt so down inside, even after her sister was being so comforting and careful with her.

Lammy sat on her knees and looked at Flaky in the face.

"Listen, Flaky. I'm sorry for everything. But I don't want to be sad anymore. You're all nice guys. And you…"

She carefully reached over and took Flakys hands into her own.

"You're my little sister. And… I need to be a better big sister to you. But, I need to let you keep whoever you want to be your best friend."

Flaky shuffled her body to the side of the bed, with her legs still underneath the blanket, as Lammy continued.

"You… Need him, don't you?"

Flaky bowed her head.

"I… Do… I need him… I… I love him… So much…"

Finally, with a bit of confidence, she raised her head.

"Lammy, I gotta find him. I gotta bring him back home. I… Gotta tell him I'm sorry…"

Lammy took her hands back and placed them on Flakys cheeks, so she could pay attention.

"WE have to find him, Flaky. All of us together. We can find him if we look for him all together."

Flaky dropped her jaw as Lammy continued.

"He's alive, I know it. And I love him. He's my brother. You love him more than I do. And all I want now is to make you happy, sissy. And to bring him back home, where he belongs. What do you say? Wanna go and look for him with us?"

Flaky, feeling better after hearing that Lammy was planning to go and look for her beloved, was starting to cheer up. It just warmed her heart to know that even in her darkest hour, she was still cared about by her sister. Even if she was not blood related, Lammy truly felt like a sister to the little red head.

But could they find Flippy, even if they tried?

Flaky looked at the wall, then crawled over to the hole and looked at the woods from afar.

"He's out there…"

She finally arched her brows in determination.

"And I'm gonna find him."

She turned her head to Lammy.

"Okay. Let's go look for him."

Lammy nodded.

"Alright. Good. I'll go get your clothes. Just stay up here, okay?"

And as she started to leave, Lammy felt her body suddenly snap back, as her arm was grabbed by the little girl.

"Lammy?"

Lammy tilted her head.

"Yes, Flaky?"

And with a caring look, and a sudden smile, Flaky finally shuffled out of the bed and let her feet touch the floor. And gently pressed herself into Lammy and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her affectionately.

"I… Forgive you… Flaky loves you, sissy…"

Lammy, shocked that she had been forgiven so quickly, suddenly smiled too. And she wrapped her own arms around the little girl, letting her feel the love that she needed this very moment. And now, they were true sisters; their love for each other has becoming affection.

Lammy spoke as she rocked the little girl gently.

"I'm so glad you forgive me, Flaky. I love you too."


	13. Chapter 11

The clouded sky dawned over the barren woods, riddled with alive and dead trees of all sorts growing in the vast land, creating a sea of green. Lovely birds were singing beautiful tweets and innocent rabbits were hopping along the trails, with several insects crawling in the soil. And the green grass was flowing softly in the cool, noontime breeze.

But all the happy elements of the environment was shattered with the sight of one silhouette. Sitting against a tree, sleeping soundly, was one green haired little boy. His head rested against his bent knees and his dirty soles were parallel to the ground. And nature could here his silent snoring as the wind blew against his green locks.

With a short grunt, he calmly opened his tired eyes. He lifted his head and looked around, not recognizing where he was. He had been travelling all night, and when his eyes could not stay open any longer, he decided to rest at a random spot in the woods in the pitch black of night, not caring where he actually was.

He did not have a care about what would happen to him anymore.

For in the previous night, he had been betrayed by the only people he had left. One young brunette girl had broken his trust by showing her true feelings. One orange haired crippled boy destroyed his hope by forcing him to leave the group. One blonde boy ruined his faith by siding with his one-armed brother, when he knew he did not want to.

But what stung the most was the actions of a certain little red head; her saddening expression, her lack of consideration of his feelings, her harsh judgment, and her heartbreaking words that rang in his heart.

Flippy stood up and looked at the sky at the remembrance of his thoughts at the beginning of his departure.

He remembered walking in the night, and denying what he had seen and heard.

"This… Can't be real… It's gotta be a bad dream.."

He started pinching himself while he walked.

"Come on… Wake up…"

He felt the pain, but did not feel any different.

"It's a dream… It's… Gotta be…"

But the feeling of the same heartbreak began to hurt, after denial did not soothe his pain. It was real, and the first step of accepting that he was alone again had passed.

And now back in the present, the next step was beginning to take place.

He arched his brows in anger as he looked back.

"They're all a bunch of jerks, anyway…"

He started walking forwards.

"Who needs them anyway?"

And lucky for him, his goal was right in front of him; he was directly on the outskirts of a city, looking large and busy, as well as populated. Surely there would be somewhere to sleep there, just like old times.

Only now, he did not have a care if a police officer recognized him and shot him. He only prayed he would live a few days before it would happened, and he was ready for whenever it happened. He was done running, tired of fighting.

Nothing else mattered to him anymore, other than to eat and sleep.

Flippy took several steps out of the woods and started walking to the streets in front of him, on a mission to first find some food. He was starving.

* * *

The adults walking the streets were accompanied by a dirty looking boy, freckled and with grey circles around his eyes. Nobody knew his name, nor did they care. But surely, if they knew about his dark secret, they would all turn on him. He was not safe anywhere if anybody but the those children knew about Fliqpy.

Luckily, he was barely talked to. Just by grumpy men yelling at him for bumping into him, and others who noticed his strange smell and appearance. Occasionally, mothers with their children walked the street, and he watched how happy his fellow kids looked. The memories of his own mother started to burn as he continued to walk.

Taking a short rest stop, he rested his bottom on the stoop of an apartment complex and looked at the street and the sidewalk. He noticed the cracking pavement and the flowing trash cluttering the cement, and he basked in the feeling of being in the city once again. It felt completely different than what he had gotten used to over the past month.

And he was becoming homesick already. He missed feeling the grass on his toes from the plains. He missed climbing up trees and picking juicy, red apples to munch on. He missed tending to his crops and getting the privilege to be a caretaker.

But most of all, he missed his friends. All of them held a special place in his heart. Sure, it was broken now, but it was still beating for them. Only now, he felt no love from them. And that was the cause of his mental pain now; the memories of his past only fueled them.

And Autumn. Sweet little Flaky was who he missed the most; he missed her hugs, her smile, her kisses, her calling him 'Flippy', and just being near her. That was his real misery.

But during his rest, his eye caught something in the storm drain in front of him. Something he remembered collecting before, when he was with a certain girl. It was small, green, paper thin, and it was caught in the grate.

He walked over and picked up the paper from the grate, and he unfolded a $20 bill, obviously left behind by a poor soul. Nodding at his sudden good luck, he began to walk down the sidewalk again, with a bit more of a hopeful look on his face.

Feeling the bill in his shorts' pocket, he started to wonder what kind of food he wanted to buy with it. Something meaty, perhaps? Or maybe just a snack. Whatever he was gonna buy, he only hoped it would be soon. His hunger was starting to burn once again.

And just down the road, the answers to his prayers were answered; an open ice cream parlor.

He licked his lips at the thought of the sweet dairy treat. The feeling of the frozen vanilla flavored ice cream, coated with chocolate and other toppings he could just barely taste was luring him to the parlor. He had not had a sweet, artificially flavored treat in some time; it was all natural sweet foods, such as fruit, he had been eating for weeks.

A bit of junk food could very well cheer him up about now.

But suddenly, while passing an alley, he heard something. The clang of a metal soup can hitting the floor caught his attention. He looked in the opening, seeing how dirty it was, and he could make out the sight of a dumpster at the other end. It was large, steel and rusty, and flying out of it was assorted pieces of trash, looking like it was being thrown out.

Curious, Flippy walked towards the dumpster, smelling the rather gross scent of garbage in the air. And he could just make out the rampant grumbling of what sounded like a child, just like him. Only this seemed rather fast in pace, like it was affected by an unknown virus that caused a fast talking voice.

Reaching the dumpster, he was about to peek inside, only for something to hit him; it was hard and the impact stung his forehead. He fell back and heard the clang of another can as he groaned. And he held his aching forehead as he heard more rustling in the metal box.

He arched his brows and got to his knees.

"Hey!"

He used his fist to pound the dumpster.

"Who's in there?"

A frightened voice gasped at the outburst, and Flippy watched as a set of fingers grabbed the edge of the bin, and up came the perpetrator.

"Hey!"

Flippy made out his face; he was a young boy, younger than he was. His brown eyes were jittering, with one of his eyes twitching. And his black hair was coated in filth and dirty looking assorted candies.

And his cheeks were red with his nose just as bright.

Flippy shouted.

"You hit me!"

The boy scoffed.

"Big deal!"

Phillip stood up, meeting his eyes at the same level as the boys.

"Say you're sorry!"

The boy stuck his tongue out at him.

"Go away now!"

The boy sank back into the bin, and Phillip was starting to get more confused about him. Sure, he was rude, but he looked rather dirty for being just a ill mannered kid. He knew one other like that, and he knew that something was causing this behavior.

He stood on his tip toes and looked over the edge.

"What are you even doing?"

He noticed the boy was digging around, rather frantically.

"Sugarsugarsugarsugarsugar…!"

Flippy rested his arms on the edge of the dumpster.

"Looking for something?"  
The boy, annoyed, popped up and fiercely grabbed his shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"SUGAR!"

He practically dove back in the filth, digging for the sweet substance affecting his speech. Now Flippy understood the reason for his rampant behaviour and fast talking; the boy was hyperactive. But he thought that was a reason to stay away from sugar, not to get more.

Flippy dropped his rough expression and looked at the boy.

"If it's sugar you want, why don't you just buy some?"

The boy stopped and looked him.

"No money, no cash, nothing like that, nope!"

Flippy noticed he was jittering like he was insane.

"Geez… You okay? You're acting real weird..."

The little boy had enough, and he tossed another can at Flippy, making him lose his grip on the dumpster and fall off. Now frustrated with this boy, he scoffed and waved his hand in annoyance at him. And to think he thought he found another friend.

He started walking away.

"Whatever…"

But suddenly, he heard his voice again.

"Wait a minute, hold on!"

Flippy stopped and looked over his shoulder, and the boy was looking out of the dumpster again.

"What?"

The boy gained a sad look, and he stopped shaking just a bit, so Flippy could understand him just a little better.

"I… I'm sorry…"

Flippy turned his whole body around as the boy continued.

"But I just gotta have sugar… I get real tired and I black out if I don't have sugar…"

The boy bowed his head.

"Sorry for the can… I just… Hate it when people call me weird..."

And Flippy, being blessed with a good heart, could feel a bit of sympathy for this strange little boy. He had heard of people getting really tired and fainting at the lack of sugar in their system, and he knew it could be serious if not treated soon. But this boy seemed desperate for sugar to keep himself alive, and being the way he was, being forced to dig in the trash for his mana, it was rather sad.

And that was what earned his forgiveness.

Flippy walked up to the boy and spoke calmly, seeing that the boy was tearing up just a little from how miserable he was.

"Well… I guess I forgive you…"

The boy looked up.

"You do?"

He nodded.

"Yeah… And listen… I was gonna go and get ice cream anyway… Wanna come with me?"

The boys face beamed.

"Really?! Ya mean it?!"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah. Sure. Come on, let's get you outta there."

The boy, too excited, scrambled over the edge of the metal dumpster and fell straight to the ground, causing Flippy to bend down and help him to his feet. And besides the goofy smile and black hair, he could notice the boys neon green colored t-shirt and ripped blue sweatpants, as well as no shoes on his feet.

But the boy still kept his goofy smile and his tongue stuck out at the thought of ice cream.

Flippy spoke.

"What's your name?"

The boy spoke abruptly.

"SAMMY! That's spelled S-A-M-M-Y!"

He nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Sammy. I'm Phillip. Call me Flippy, though, okay?"

Sammy tilted his head.

"What kinda whacko name is that?"

Flippy shook his own head.

"Nevermind that. How old are you?"

He raised all the fingers on one hand and one on the other.

"This many!"

Flippy nodded.

"Alright. Come on, let's go."

Sammy immediately sped off.

"Race ya there!"

He ran out the alley, giggling in excitement, as Phillip trailed behind him. And the people watched as two little boys ran down the street, one of them practically sprinting and the other just mousing along. But Flippy was starting to feel a bit better about himself, now that he had met another child like the ones he had grown attached to.

And he was starting to experience deja vu. After all, he met a child that looked younger than him, looked miserable, and was rude at the beginning. But after gaining their trust, both he and the child started to feel happy again.

Only this time, it was not a little girl that would win his heart.

He kept a neutral expression as Sammy reached the parlor doors first, and he stormed inside with Phillip trailing behind him.

* * *

"Uh…"

Phillip watched with a slack-jawed expression as across the table from him, a certain blacked haired boy was shoveling down spoonful after spoonful of sugar filled ice cream, coated in all kinds of sweet little additives. Sammy was practically face first into his bowl as the mound became smaller and smaller, and his mouth became dirtier and dirtier. Customers were getting disgusted with how much of a pig the little boy was, and Phillip was just wondering how he has not stopped from getting a pain in his head.

Flippy called out.

"Hey. Sammy!"

Sammy stopped eating as he looked up and swallowed what was in his mouth as Flippy continued.

"You gotta slow down. You'll give yourself a bellyache."

Sammy shook his head.

"My belly's already aching from being empty!"

And he dove back into his sundae as Flippy chuckled a bit.

"Heh… You're nuts…"

Then Flippy got an idea.

"Hey… Can I call you Nutty?"

Sammy looked up.

"Nutty?"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah… I'm used to being called a nickname, like Flippy. I think a nickname makes you special, when someone gives it to you. So… How 'bout it?"

Sammy thought a minute, then smiled.

"Okay!"

Flippy gave a slight smirk too.

"Okay… Nutty… So… You out here all alone?"

Nutty dropped his smile.

"Yeah…"

Flippy took a bite out of his own sundae and spoke.

"Why's that?"

Nutty put his spoon down on the table and bowed his head. And his eyes began to jitter and water from the thought of what has happened to him. It was weeks ago, and he had no idea why nobody had paid attention to him yet. He believed he grew up in a nice home, with loving parents and plenty of attention.

But weeks living on his own had disregarded his trust.

He sank in the booth.

"Me and my mom and dad came here for a trip. We took one of those subway thingies here, and we walked all around and went to a bunch of stores, till we went back to the train. But I had to go to the bathroom first, so I went. And when I came back…"

He looked up.

"They were gone."

Flippy raised his brows.

"They just left you behind?"

Sammy nodded.

"Yeah… They never came back…"

Flippy bowed his brows in sorrow.

"Oh… Sorry…"

Nutty gained a sad expression.

"Thanks… But… What do you care?"

Flippy squinted.

"What do you mean ?"

Flippy shook his head.

"Why do you care what happens to me? You don't even know me!"

He crossed his arms.

"Besides, you're just giving me ice cream so I'll shut up and leave you alone, right?"

Confused, Flippy shook his head.

"No, I… I'm doing this because... I know how you feel…"

Nutty changed his expression to a confused look, and just now noticed how dirty and mangy the older looking was. His dark green shirt was covered in dark stains and holes, and he noticed that he himself had no shoes on his feet. Perhaps this older child was sleeping in the streets too.

He spoke.

"You… Do?"

Flippy nodded.

"Yeah… See, when I lost my own parents… I ran into a little girl named Autumn, and we walked together into the woods where we found a barn… And we met two kids named Noah and Jack, and we turned that barn into a home for kids without one…"

He sank in his own seat.

"But… I can't be there anymore… They hate me now…"

Nutty leaned in.

"Why?"

Flippy shook his head.

"Don't wanna talk about it…"

Nutty nodded.

"Alright… So… What are you doing here then?"

Flippy shrugged.

"I don't really know… I wanted to just stay hidden… But now after meeting you… Maybe I wanna… I don't know… Start over…"

Sammy tilted his head.

"Start… Over?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. Find a new home, and stay there for free, and survive by myself."

Sammy replied.

"Oh… Well…"

He instantly stood up and shuffled out of the booth.

"Good luck, I guess…"

Nutty bowed his head.

"Well… I guess I'll go now…"

He started walking to the door.

"Thanks for the ice cream…"

Flippy, confused on why the boy did not ask to go with him, started wondering if he could survive out in the wild on his own. He barely did before he met the other kids, and even when he was the caretaker. He knew life was not the same without a sturdy shelter manned by Handy, weekly visits to the grocery store from Cuddles, a steady money supply from Lammy.

But especially, he knew a child could not live without comfort, and love. And there was only one who could provide Flippy with that.

So, Flippy got out of the booth and caught Nutty before he reached the door.

"Wait a minute…"

The boy turned around.

"Huh?"

Flippy put his hands in his pockets.

"Look… When I said I wanted to start over… See, those kids I told you about… I helped them get their lives back together, and mine too. I, sorta, understand that… Well, a kid needs help growing up… Like from other kids…"

He thought about the red haired girl.

"And love… Plenty of that…"

Nutty, confused, squinted his eyes.

"What are you saying?"

Flippy eyed him closely.

"I'm saying… If you want… Wherever I go… I'll make room for you…"

Sammy blinked a few times.

"You… Want me to go with you?"

Flippy looked around and shrugged.

"Well… I guess if you want to… But I don't know where we'll go…"

And the little black haired boy was stunned. A sudden act of kindness from a boy he barely even knew had blessed him. Before, he thought this kid was just going to leave him behind, like his parents did. He had yet to trust anyone, until now.

And he smiled.

"I do!"

Flippy got confused.

"What?"

Sammy was getting excited.

"The train station! We can catch a train and ride it downtown! There's lots of places to stay there!"

Flippy raised his brows.

"Really?"

Sammy nodded rapidly.

"Yeah! Come on, I'll show you my place first!"

And he stormed out the door, into the street, with Flippy coming slowly behind him. Nutty continued to stop and catch his breath from running as Flippy just continued walking. And the continued passing several people who watched them hop and skip and laugh together, looking like best friends.

It was like they were meant to be.

* * *

The two boys raced down the steps, leading to the subway train station. They could hear the chatter of busy people talking on their phones, waiting for the next train. And Nutty ran past them all, heading for one place in particular. To Flippy, he seemed like he knew where he was going, like he lived in this station.

Unfortunately, it was true.

Sammy had led him to a particular place, and showed his home to the boy.

"TA-DA!"

Flippy was baffled to see a single bench, with a blanket over it, and a pillow on one end. Sammy sat on top of it, raised the blanket to reveal several unwrapped candy wrappers and dozens of empty soda pop cans.

And there was a sign on the far end that read:

SAMMY'S PLACE

Flippy kneeled down to him.

"This is your home?"

Nutty shook his head.

"Not anymore! Used to be, though."

He patted the side of the bench.

"Come on, Flip. Train doesn't come for another 10 minutes."

He tapped his head as he shut one eye.

"I mem-or-ized it!"

Flippy smirked as he sat down, next to Nutty. And the two boys waited patiently for the train as Nutty hummed and swung his feet back and forth, them nearly touching the floor. They were both thinking about their future home, wherever it was. Flippy was dreaming of being in the plains, where he could spend his free time planting crops like he used to. And Nutty dreamed over sugar; endless sugar.

Nutty looked over.

"Hey, Flip…"

Flippy looked at him too.

"Yeah?"

Nutty tilted his head.

"What's it gonna be like at our new house?"

Flippy looked around.

"Well… I think it'll be good. Probably not the best, but good enough."

He looked forward.

"A bed for each of us… Food… Water… I think we'll be okay…"

Nutty spoke.

"Will there be sugar?"

Flippy looked at him and nodded.

"Sure. Plenty of sugar."

Nutty smiled with his tongue out in thought of his future life, filled with his favorite treat, and the essence that kept him alive. He felt so excited, and so blessed with having a new friend that wants to give him a new life, out of the gutter. He kept recalling his pathetic hours digging through garbage to lick candy wrappers to get his sugar intake.

But now, he never had to dig through garbage again.

He smiled.

"You know… You're alright, Flippy!"

Flippy smirked.

"You too, Nutty."

And suddenly, almost on cue, Nutty pointed down the way.

"TRAIN!"

Flippy watched as Nutty popped up and imitated the locomotive.

"WOO WOO! THERE'S THE CHOO CHOO!"

The boys watched as a long, rectangular shaped train suddenly came up and pulled to a stop, with an ear striking whistle and grinding gears. They both watched a man in a blue hat come out first, and a crowd of people came flooding out of the sub and into the station. The man looked middle aged, and grumpy.

And he hated a certain black haired boy, who was the most annoying twit in his life.

And that boy pointed to him.

"See that grumpy Mr. hat man?"

Flippy nodded.

"What about him?"

Nutty smiled.

"All we gotta do is get him away from the door, then we can get on!"

Flippy raised an eyebrow.

"How're we gonna do that?"

Nutty smiled with his tongue out.

"Just watch! Come on!"

Nutty grabbed his wrist and the two ran over to one of the concert support beams, and hid behind it as the man in the hat checked his clock as the last passenger came off, and nobody went in. Nutty winked at Flippy and walked casually over to him, with him taking his eye off his clock for a second.

Nutty smiled and waved.

"Hi!"

The man scoffed.

"You again… What do you want, kid?"

Nutty blinked a few times, then rudely blew a raspberry at the man, making him angry.

"Rude, little-"

And Nutty quickly rammed the tip of his foot into the mans lower leg, making him grab it in pain and grit his teeth in anger. The boy giggled and quickly ran off, making the man run after him in retaliation. Flippy watched as Nutty tried his best to stay away, taking sharp turns and even ducking under the mans legs.

And when he saw the open door, he realized it was his chance.

While Nutty dipped down under the mans grabbing arms, making the man fall over, Flippy sneaked forward and climbed onto the train. He stepped inside, seeing it mostly empty, but a few people standing and sitting. Of course, it was only one car of the whole train, so he was sure there was more people.

But he could not forget his friend.

He looked out the train door, seeing Nutty jumping up and down on the mans body.

"SAMMY!"

Nutty looked up, with a large smile.

"HOME!"

And he immediately sped off, with the man growling as he was starting to get to his feet.

"STOP THAT KID!"

Nutty was fast, the fastest runner that Flippy had ever seen, even faster than Flaky. And he watched as he had no problem sprinting onto the train with him, with the man running towards the door as well.

Thinking fast, Flippy dragged his little friend over to the next car and took immediate shelter underneath one of the seats. They were both panting hard from exhaustion, as they watched the door swing open, and an old man grumbling in anger. They kept their mouths shut, trying not to breath in the dirt and dust in the disgusting space under the seat.

But as the man passed by, Flippy felt the dust fly into his nasal cavity. He tried his hardest to keep a sneeze held in, but his face showed he was about to let out the force. But before he could, he felt a finger over his nostrils, with a smiling Nutty attached to it. Flippy felt the sneeze go away, and nodded in thanks.

But that did not stop Nutty, who let out a force of his own.

"A-CHOO!"

The old man looked at the space.

"Ah ha!"

Flippy shook the kid.

"Nutty!"

And the man kneeled down and found the boys, both of them gasping. They tried crawling away, but the man grabbed both of their legs and quickly pulled them out. The boys attempted to scramble away, but he had an iron grip, and the old man brought them both to their feet and grabbed their shirt collars.

He growled at them both.

"You both are in a lot of trouble!"

The old man shook them a bit.

"No little street rats get on my train without paying!"

The boys continued yelling and trying to get away, with the man not letting go and yelling at the both of them about how they were criminals. Flippy felt this kind of wrath before, from an older man he knew all too well, and he was struggling his hardest to keep his dark secret from coming out again.

But as the struggle continued, on the far end of the car were the only other passengers. And out from his his jacket, one of them pulled out a brown piece of paper, showing its contents to the other. They both gave a quick nod, as one of them stood up and started walking over.

The boys continued to struggle as Flippy begged.

"Please, sir! We're just trying to get home!"

Nutty yelled.

"Let us go, you old fart!"

The man was about to knock their heads together, when they all heard a different voice.

"HOLD UP, HOLD UP!"

And a slender arm, with a fist full of greenbacks, appeared in the mans face.

"Here. I'll pay for their tickets."

They both caught a glance at the other man, and how he looked. He was pale skinned, with dark hair and cold green eyes. And he wore a pressed black suit, with a black tie and matching dress shoes. And on his head was a white fedora, finishing his look.

He gave a creepy smile as the man calmly took the bills and let the boys go.

"Um… Okay then…"

He looked at the boys.

"Sorry for that. Take a seat."

He mumbled off to the next car.

"God, I don't get paid enough for this…"

Flippy looked up.

"Uh… Thanks, mister. You didn't need to do that."

The man spoke.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on and sit with me and my brother."

He led the two boys over to the other end, and Flippy thought he was looking in a mirror. Sitting down in the seat was the mans brother, and he was exactly like him. Same cold eyes, same dark hair, same suit and tie. But he had no hat on his head, and a small little moustache covered his upper lip.

The other man sat down as Flippy sat in between them. Nutty held his head.

"Woah… I'm seeing double…"

The moustached one spoke first, in the same toned voice as the other.

"You can call me Lifty."

The one in the hat spoke.

"And I'm Shifty."

They spoke in unison.

"We're the Frugali Brothers."

Nutty spoke, a bit weak.

"Uh oh… Flippy, I'mma gonna need some sugar soon… My head's all wobbly…"

Flippy shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, Nutty. Don't think this train's got any sugar…"

Lifty spoke.

"Well… I think I saw the catering tray in the next car had some jello on it…"

Nutty popped up.

"Sugar?!"

He ran off, through the door.

"SUGAR!"

And they all could hear as the sound of clashing dishes and screaming men could be heard from his sudden burst of energy. Flippy chuckled at the sight of his goofy little friend, and he was starting to feel a certain way for the little boy. A feeling that he knew all too well.

He did not admit it yet, but Sammy was starting to feel like another little brother to him.

He looked up at the men.

"Sorry. He can get a bit crazy sometimes. Anyway, my name is-"

Suddenly, the twins expressions changed to ugly smiles as they grabbed his shoulders tightly.

"Phillip Masterson." "The Demon Child."

They spoke in unison.

"Wanted Dead or Alive."

He dropped his jaw in shock as the men suddenly looked rather threatening. He had no idea that he was still recognizable, with his dark green hair still intact. But seeing the childs face up close must have provoked the men to take action, for in their heads swirled visions of money and greedy fantasies.

And Phillip was starting to think that maybe his nightmare had finally come to an end.

Flippy spoke calmly.

"You guys know who I am? Does that mean you're gonna kill me?"

He bowed his head.

"Okay. I guess you guys get the money then."

The twins looked confused as he rambled on.

"So where're we gonna do it? Dark alley? Behind a dumpster? Public restroom?"

Shifty spoke.

"Wait… You… Wanna be killed for the money?"

Flippy shrugged.

"Guess not. But I won't fight it. I'm done with running around. Besides, you guys seem nice enough, since you bought me and Sammy's tickets. Really, I'm fine if you guys want to kill me, so you can be rich."

The boys shook their heads as Lifty spoke.

"Look kid, we don't wanna to kill you…"

Flippy blinked.

"You… Don't?"

Shifty smiled.

"Nah… See, we been looking for yous for a long time, now. Cause we want to make you one of the rich and famous people, like us."

Phillip looked at them both.

"Rich… And famous?"

Lifty gave a proud look.

"See, me and my brother here, we're professionals. We take pride in our job."

Shifty looked off into the abyss.

"Yep. Our names are everywhere, wherever you look. And we love all the attention too."

Lifty spoke.

"And you've been getting a lotta attention too, eh little guy?"

Flippy sank in shame.

"I guess… So what do you guys even do?"

Shifty spoke.

"Advertising, kid. Making our name known wherever we go."

Lifty gave an angry look.

"But… Problem is, we're a little low on money, right now… We need to stock up before we head out for another job."

He patted Flippys shoulder.

"And that's where you come in, little man."

Flippy, confused, spoke again.

"Wait… You want me to be a professional… Advertiser? You're… Giving me a job?"

Shifty spoke, in a caring voice.

"Yeah, of course! You know how to attract attention, exactly what an ad does."

Lifty knelt down onto the floor.

"You'd be rich and famous, just like us! Whaddya say?"

Flippy thought a minute.

"Well… What do I have to do?"

Lifty smiled.

"All you gotta do is watch, and learn from the masters. We'll teach you everything you need to know. And then, when you're ready, we'll let you do some advertising on your own."

Shifty spoke.

"So…?"

Flippy thought about this moral problem for a minute. This was too good to be true; a job offering for a poor boy. He would not have to search for single bills, steal or beg ever again if he made his own money. Besides, he was supposed to be the caretaker of his group, and now that he was off to a fresh start, this seemed the right way to go.

But still, could he really trust these shady looking men? Were they really wanting to make him rich and famous, or did they have something else in mind? And why exactly did they need him of all people?

Whatever reason, it was good enough for him.

Flippy nodded.

"Guess I can't go wrong with a job offering. Alright. Count me in."

Shifty patted his shoulder.

"Good for you."

Lifty took his hand and shook it.

"Very mature decision."

And he gave a quick wink to his brother, who stood up with him.

"Now, uh, we gotta talk in private… Discuss how we're gonna make your name known. You just stay here, okay, kid?"

Flippy nodded as the two twins walked over into the other car, both of them gaining a smile. And Nutty, covered in food from his outbreak, was licking little colored cubes that wiggled with every taste. He saw the twins walk past as tossed the jello aside.

"Aw, sugar-free! Tastes like dooky…"

But something caught his young ears; he overheard what the twins were talking about, and it was not good. He concentrated a bit, but he could not make out what they were saying right away. So he quickly crawled under the seat and made his way so he was directly underneath the twins.

And he kept his mouth shut as they continued.

They chuckled.

"So where's our first job?" "I got us all ready for a bank heist later today. We'll take the brat with us."

Lifty dropped his smile.

"What about the cops?"

Shifty gritted his teeth.

"You idiot, that's what we got Masterson, for! He'll take out the cops, and everyone will forget about us and go after him instead, like they always do…"

Lifty smiled.

"Yeah… And when we've had enough?"

Shifty ran one finger across his throat and made a menacing sound.

"Bye bye, Demon Child; Hello, lake of gold!"

They both chuckled loudly as Sammy overheard their plan. And he tried as hard as he could to hold his gasping breath, as his hypoglycemia was starting to take effect. He held his head as he felt himself breathing heavily.

And he caught the attention of the evil men.

"Hey!"

Lifty bent down.

"Little rat bastard!"

He pulled him by his hair and dragged him out from under the seat.

"You're getting outta here!"

Shifty grabbed him too as they dragged him over to the other car, where Phillip watched him drag him over to the door. Sammy tried as hard as he could to talk, but his illness was making him speechless, and Phillip could only make out mumbling.

He spoke to his new adversaries.

"What are you doing?"

Shifty looked at him.

"We're getting off here."

The train was slowing down as Lifty looked at the little boy.

"And you, you're getting lost."

And when the train came to a halt, Phillip got up from his seat and walked out the now open door, as Lifty followed him. But Shifty, still holding onto Nutty, knelt down to eye level, forcing the little boy to look into his eyes of fire.

And he threatened the little boy.

"You say anything to anyone, your ass is grass!"

And he dragged the kid off of the train and forced him to start walking away, as the twins took Phillip and began walking away. With his cheeks turning red, Nutty started to run after them, with his legs starting to give out from his exhaustion. He had to warn Flippy, before it was too late, or he would lose the only friend he has had in long time.

But his illness was getting the best of him as he came to a stop.

Thinking he would be worried, Flippy called back.

"Don't worry, Nutty! Just going to get my job, then I'll come and get you right here!"

The twins looked back and gave the other boy an evil smile as Sammy held his heart and he finally collapsed onto the ground, just barely breathing. He felt his head throb and his chest get tighter and tighter as he kept gasping for air.

And there was nobody to help him; he was suffering all alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, coming from the woods towards the city was a group of children, ranging from height and hair color. One was a quick to start tracking blonde, one was an already bored looking ginger, one was a auburn haired girl, who was holding the hand of a little red head with green eyes, who was busy sucking the thumb of her free hand.

The children were on a mission; find their friend.

Handy grumbled.

"Ugh… Can't we take a break yet?"

Flaky screamed.

"NO STOPPING! WE FIND FLIPPY NOW!"

Lammy tried her best to control her.

"Calm down, Flaky. We will, I promise."

Cuddles could not find one trace.

"Well… Maybe he went in the city already…"

Bailey spoke.

"Where?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe he bought a ticket outta town and we're wasting our time…"

That was when Noah got an idea.

"The subway! Yeah! Maybe someone there has seen him!"

He started running off.

"Come on; it's this way!"

And they all watched as the free minded boy ran towards the city, with Handy lazily following along. Lammy and Flaky stayed behind a minute, as Flaky kept a sad face throughout their walk. She still felt the heartbreak from last night, and it burned in her tiny chest.

And what was worse, she forgot an important asset to her feeble little mind. She forgot her best friend; a symbol of a bond between her and a certain boy. It was her most prized possession, and the goal of finding her true love cost her to forget it.

She forgot her teddy bear at the barn.

Flaky bowed her head as Lammy gently grabbed her cheeks.

"We'll find him…"

She started walking after her brothers, as Flaky stayed behind. And she muttered as she began to walk to.

"Flippy… I hope you're okay… I… Love you…"

"That's a good look for you…"

The twins were standing in front of a mirror, with a little boy in front of them.

"What do you think… Poacher?"

And the boy eyed his new attire from head to toe; a new fitted black suit, a black tie, dress shoes, a white fedora hat that barely covered his green hair, and a set of green tinted glasses. He barely looked like himself anymore, which was his intention.

And he liked his new nickname.

"Poacher… Cool name… I look good too…"

They all smiled as they walked out of the boutique together, with Shifty getting into the drivers seat of a black car with tinted windows. And before he got in the back, Phillip was caught by a hand grabbing his shoulder.

Lifty pulled him in and spoke softly.

"Keep this on you, would ya?"

He reached into his jacket, and Phillip was shocked to see him pull out an object. It was the bane of any mortal mans existence. It was the key factor in so many cases of people taking lives that it was criminal to even carry it on your person.

Lifty grabbed his hand, and slowly put a pistol in Phillips tiny hand.

"The cities full of crazy ass people who wanna kill you. Use that when you need to protect yourself, or one of us."

Phillip eyed the gun.

"A… Gun…"

Lifty spoke calmly.

"Only real men can use one of these babies. You're a real man, aren't you?"

Phillip nodded.

"Yeah. I'm a man."

Lifty smiled.

"Good. Now, big man, get in the back. And uh… Keep that thing hidden, will ya?"

Lifty quickly got into the passenger seat as Phillip looked at the gun steadily. He had never held a gun before, neither did he want to. He knew how a knife felt, sure, but the other deadly weapon felt even more evil in his hands. It was just begging him to pull the trigger and take someones life right in front of the boy.

And Phillip could feel Fliqpy chuckling in his head as he got in the back of the car, and it sped off soundly. And the whole while, he just kept eying the pistol, how it felt in his hands, and how good he looked in his new suit.

Hopefully, he would not have to use that gun. He did not even know how.


End file.
